Cutie Mark Casualties
by Silverbulletsdeath
Summary: The apology didn't work. Gabby Gums is more hated then ever. What are three fillies to do? In hopes of food and escape they enter the Everfree Forest. What they find is the answer to the question they've been searching for. Can they ever go home?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: So, this is something I worked on for a while. Rating is there to be careful.

Warnings: Violence, uncomfortable subjects, death (not of a major character), underage drinking (sorta). If I should add warnings, tell me.

Disclaimer: Owned by Hasbro, Lauren Faust creative director, and shown on the HUB. So yeah, altogether not mine.

Chapter One: The Runaways

"But I don't know what else we can do. It's been a week. We said we're sorry and now they seem to hate us more than ever," said Apple Bloom and then her breath caught in a sob.

She'd tried talking to her sister and her big brother, but neither of them seemed interested in talking to her, not even to scold her.

"I thought for sure that writing that article would fix everything," said Sweetie Belle and then sighed.

"Hmph, why should we even care? My dad changed the bucking locks. I mean, I can easily camp in the clouds I can get to, I prefer that anyway, but Rainbow Dash keeps kicking them out from underneath me," Scootaloo said stomping her hooves.

"So, what, are we just going to keep living out of our playhouse?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Why not?" asked Scootaloo, turning on her friends and smiling. "Better that way. No grownups telling us what to do. No chores to take up our time, or school. We'll be able to work on getting our cutie marks twenty-four-seven."

"I don't think that'll work out well," said Sweetie Belle hesitantly. "What if our talent is being nice to people?"

"I think we can rule that out," said Scootaloo dryly.

"But we will need resources," Apple Bloom pointed out. She was at the small cupboards where they stored their extra food. "We're almost out of food, and no one will give us anything, they're too mad. I even tried just picking a few apples from the trees, but…"

Apple Bloom trailed off, her voice choked. Scootaloo shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortable with Apple Bloom's display. She'd never been as expressive as her other friends and didn't always share their morals, if it had been up to her, they would be eating the apples off the trees and around them, at least the tree they were in. Really, it had been a fluke when she'd become friends with Sweetie Belle. It was funny in retrospect, but terrifying at the time. Sweetie Belle was quite a deadly shot when she thought her sister was in danger, even with just a slingshot. Apple Bloom, well, Scootaloo was sure the filly hadn't even noticed them before she started obsessing over being a blank flank, and it had seemed so easily to incorporate her into their friendship.

"Well, we'll just have to get food another way," said Scootaloo dismissively. She quickly tried to think of something they could do. Preferably faraway from Ponyville so she could get her friend's attention away from their family troubles. Once they stopped thinking about their sisters everything would be fine. The cutie mark crusaders were resourceful little ponies, they'd be able to survive anything together as long as they pulled themselves out of the gutter of despair they seemed to be wallowing in. "Any ideas Apple Bloom?"

Apple Bloom looked behind her at her friends before quickly going to stare at the cupboards

again. She fought off the shivering feeling of sadness and fear that had been steadily growing as each apple and treat seemed to disappear from their shelves. She had been home more times than she could count, but she'd only tried to actually talk to her family three times. She'd stuck around to see her reaction to her sister reading paper, but while she had been Applejack reading it, the article hadn't lifted her sister's spirits. As they walked over to her sister to see if her apology was accepted, Applejack had ripped the paper to shreds, Big Mac had been crying, and Applejack had screamed at her until they were running.

` Apple Bloom hadn't understood what the problem was. She thought their apology would cheer her sister up. Maybe not make everything perfect, but that it would a good step in the right direction to mending the relationship that she'd broken so carelessly with Gabby Gums. And Apple Bloom had been amazed to find how shallow and cowardly she was in the face of all this. She'd tried to steal from her own family for Celestia's sake. It didn't matter that she hadn't even broken the skin of the apple, or that she instantly put it down when she realized what she was doing, she had still tried to do it.

Maybe her friends and her deserved to be ignored, but didn't they deserve to starve or waste away on insubstantial grass. Apple Bloom never seemed full anymore. She'd started making sure to limit herself, because otherwise she'd just keep eating and eating until she could no longer stuff anything else in her mouth. All she wanted was apple pie, or maybe an apple fritter. She wanted to go home and feast. She'd do anything. She'd do the entire feast all by herself if she had to, just to have a moment where she could have her family around her, all of them eating a hearty meal after a day of hard work.

"Apple Bloom?" asked Sweetie Belle coming and standing right in the earth ponies face. Apple Bloom jumped in surprise and then blushed.

"Sorry Scootaloo," she said sheepishly and then shook her head, trying to get rid of the mess that rattled in her head. Finally she just sighed.

"Normally it wouldn't be a problem, but we don't have anyone we can turn to. No one will even trade with us, and even if we had bits. There's a chance they'd just slam the door in our faces. We can't get seeds, and it's too late to plant anything anyway, and we can't scavenge 'cause everything is owned and we'd have to steal them," said Apple Bloom miserably. She really didn't want to steal. She saw Scootaloo actually consider it for a second and wanted to yell at her friend. They were better than that.

"We could go into the Everfree Forest," said Sweetie Belle softly. Scootaloo looked over at their friend. They had forgotten about Sweetie Belle. Well, not completely. But the unicorn could be so prissy, they just hadn't thought she'd be much good, or make any good suggestions. All she'd been harping on all week was trying to talk it out. Trying to mend things. She'd been the one in Ponyville actually trying to talk to people, trying to make things right. Yet look at them. A week later and all it had done was apparently break her spirit. "Yeah, why do we need any of them?"

"But, we've always been warned…" started Scootaloo.

"What, are you afraid Scootaloo?" asked Sweetie Belle teasingly. "Come on girls, we've been there before when trying to find our talents or when visiting Zecora."

"Yeah, but never any farther in, and never for that long," said Apple Bloom. Then she frowned. "But you're right."

"What?" demanded Scootaloo.

"Think about it Scootaloo," Apple Bloom insisted, her tone becoming more instant. "Everything in the world relies on ponies taking care of them. Regulating them. You need connection to do anything. I mean, some ponies get lucky like Fluttershy, but even she had a mentor, I think."

"But the Everfree Forest is perfect. No one goes in, and everything grows on its own," said Sweetie Belle. "We even have that book Twilight gave us."

"A book, how will that help? Does it give us a detailed list of all the dangers in that place?" demanded Scootaloo.

"Nope," said Sweetie Belle. She trotted over and using her magic levitated a slightly paint splattered book out of a pile of pushed the art supplies. Apple Bloom trotted so she stood next to Scootaloo. They shared a look, but neither of them recognized the book. Sweetie Belle didn't seem to be bothered and flopped the book down in front of them. "It's a book on identifying edible plants, and some poisonous ones, especially if they look like the edible ones."

"You've read this?" asked Stootaloo, raising one eyebrow and pushing the book lightly as if it was contaminated.

"I only glanced through. I was thinking about seeing if plant finding or identifying was our talent. I was going to suggest it before…" Sweetie Belle trailed off and the Cutie Mark Crusaders found themselves looking at the book. Suddenly all three of them were hungry, no, not just hungry, starving.

"I think it'll work," said Apple Bloom and then bit her lip. "But we'll have more to worry about than just poisonous plants. There's nasty things in there. Like manticores and dragons and…"

"Woah, Apple Bloom, you need to breathe," said Scootaloo, trying to calm down Apple Bloom who had gotten more frantic as she thought of all the things that lived in the forest. "We have to try."

"But we need a way to get home," said Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo snorted, maybe going into the Everfree forest hadn't been what she meant when she said they had to get away from Ponyville, but if they went in, then she was going to make sure they came out as far away from Ponyville as possible.

"What do we want to come back here for? It's clear that they don't want us anymore," snapped Scootaloo. Her friends just glared at her. Scootaloo sighed and grabbed a couple of balls of string. "Here, we'll put this on sturdy branches. The colors will show up no problem against the gloomy Everfree Forest."

The other two looked uncertain, but then Sweetie Belle bit hard into the side of her mouth, hard enough that she felt the salty tang of her own blood. She nodded and got her pack. Apple Bloom slowly went to grab her own pack. What should she take? She knew she should leave everything nonessential at the cabin. They'd be back, and her big sister had always told her not to get too attached to anything. But, there were her spare ribbons, each one special to her in different ways. She also couldn't leave her ball, it was small, it would fit fine in her pack. And of course she needed some paper. What if she got lost, or they walked too far and had to send a message home? And she had to bring some crayons to write the letter, and she needed some glitter and glue and the small ribbons, because she needed them to read the letters so they would have to look pretty. Anything else she would need?

Scootaloo folded her scooter and shoved it into her pack. She looked at it, and then decided that it was late, she had a completely legitimate reason to take her blanket. Scootaloo then shifted, well, the girl's didn't know how to camp. And they'd definitely stay in the Everfree Forest for the night. It was already mid afternoon and it'd take some doing to get food in the Everfree Forest. Plus, it would serve their families right if the Cutie Mark Crusaders disappeared, maybe then they should have realized that they were sincere and to just accept their apology. So she grabbed the other's blankets, and then their favorite stuffed animals, because of course they'd need pillows. Then she took Apple Bloom's bug repellent. It was fine, it was for all of them, and Apple Bloom wouldn't think of it anyway. Now, just a few more things, this was just a camping trip after all.

Sweetie Belle knew they needed to be careful. Yeah, they went to see Zecora often, but there had also been the Cockatrice. If it hadn't been for Fluttershy that night they would have all been turned into stone, and no one would know where they were going, and maybe none of them would care. But how could they protect themselves? But Pinkie Pie had told her that fear was easily laughed away, and that's what made the Everfree forest was, right? It was just an unknown filled with fear because it was different. All they had to do was laugh away everything that looked scary. So Sweetie Belle put a book of jokes and a couple of gag gifts into her bag along with the book on edible plants. She also put in the book on basic magic spells her parents had given her. She'd never been interested in that sort of thing, but they needed to be able to defend themselves. She also put in her slingshot with a couple of rocks. It was old, but it would work, she was sure.

So the Cutie Mark Crusaders started toward the Everfree Forest. They were all a little nervous. The clubhouse was a little too close to Apple Acres. When they were inside, that was fine. They were as far away from anything inside the clubhouse, unfortunately outside they had to be careful to avoid any pony unless they wanted to be glared at. So they walked far along the edge of Ponyville. It wasn't long until the fillies entered the forest.

Sweetie Belle started to sing softly under her breath. Just a small hum of something that came into her head. Her sister had said her talent was singing, but Sweetie had tried that, and then her voice had cracked while singing at the family reunion and everyone had laughed. So now she always tried to keep her songs mostly to herself, because, no matter how hard she tried, her voice always cracked. There was no way singing was her talent.

The others quickly picked up the tone were humming with her. Sweetie Belle and they walked confidently into the forest. Somehow it was a little less scary when they were together and with a song on their lips, and Apple Bloom even giggled. Humming always made her lips tickle. Still, they kept humming even as they went deeper and deeper in. Past the poison jokes, careful not to walk through them.

It was then that they actually opened the book, careful to make sure they were far away from Zecora's tree as they could and even further into the forest. Zecora wasn't happy with them either. Sweetie Belle had checked after it was clear that Ponyville was a bust. Well, mostly a bust. Still, they needed food, and they'd be back home in a week and everything would be fine. Well, not fine, but better in some ways.

Apple Bloom tried to concentrate on the book and the plants. On what they looked like, and what they were good for, and what plants looked like them but were reason poisonous. Maybe they'd find some zap apple trees or something. Well, maybe not zap apple trees, they wouldn't be in season for another couple of months, but there had to be something that grew by itself in the forest that she could recognize without a stupid book. It was clear the Scootaloo also bored to tears. She started looking around and shifting from foot to foot. It was also clear that Sweetie Belle was focused on doing it right and memorizing everything from the book.

"Why don't we do this scientifically?" said Apple Bloom slowly, the idea coming together as she talked. She then smiled brightly, the rest of the plan japing into her brain as she figured out what had to be done when she said the word 'scientifically'. "Yeah, yeah, Sweetie Belle, you keep looking at the book, and Scootaloo and I will fan the nearby area for things that look like food. We'll bring them back to you and you can tell us if they're edible."

"We can't go far though," said Scootaloo. "And how will we know where we got them?"

"We won't go out of eyesight, and we'll color code. You have the string right? And all the string everywhere will lead us home," Apple Bloom said. Scootaloo pulled her pack off her back and out of the right pouch she took six balls of string. So each of them had six 'sections' and had to stay in eyesight. Apple Bloom took the orange, red, and magenta colored string, Scootaloo took the blue, bright green, and turquoise, which meant that she went into the forest and Apple Bloom headed toward the opened patch where some grass grew.

They spent a good amount of time grabbing random plants out of the ground. By the time the forest started getting dark. Apple Bloom spit out a vine that had been growing on the ground a little farther away from them then they probably should have allowed. Scootaloo lay down beside them. Sweetie Belle looked at another plant, these sort of looked like big blueberries, and then she threw them away. Scootaloo let out a moan. They hadn't found anything yet, well, actually, the grass was okay, and it would be good for the night, but there wasn't enough for more than a day, and half of the stuff is dead.

"The vines are moonshine ropes. They're edible, but they'll make us act like we ate a little too much salt, or drank a tankard of apple cider," said Sweetie Belle.

"I don't think being drunk is a good idea in the Everfree Forest," said Scootaloo.

"How much until we get really tipsy?" asked Apple Bloom, going to look over Sweetie Belle's shoulder.

"Um, well, I mean, it'd have to be a full meal, maybe less for us," said Sweetie Belle. She tried to understand everything. But it turned into some sort of impossible code the more information she tried to narrow down. "The grass will be fine."

"Yeah, but there's a reason we left. We couldn't have another lunch of grass. You know what they say it does to you if you don't get other nutrients," said Scootaloo with a shiver. "What does happen?"

"Depends on what you're not getting enough of," said Apple Bloom slowly. "Granny Smith and Red Delicious talked to us about it sometimes, but we live on a farm. We would never starve ourselves. I do know what happens when we don't drink enough water."

"Yeah, well, we brought water bottles right?" said Sweetie Belle. She quickly started looking through her things and even Apple Bloom looked back at her pack nervously.

"I did," said Scootaloo. The other three sighed and then they all smiled and giggled. Together they were unstoppable group of fillies. She passed them out, and they suddenly realized how thirsty they were. Apple Bloom quickly picked some grasses and handed them out. She also got some roots; she had tied an orange string to the tallest root.

"I'm not sure Apple Bloom," said Sweetie Belle, looking sideways at the small pile of roots that were twisted and a deep dark brown with prickles of green.

"Listen, it's not the old days when we could get by just eating grass. I mean, we still can eat it, but, we need this stuff too," said Apple Bloom and then she made a face at her friends. "Come on. Don't tell me you haven't got a little salt on special occasions. And I know you'll line up with everyone else to have a tankard of cider."

"Only when my parents aren't in town," said Sweetie Belle with a nervous laugh. "And I've never had salt before."

"Really?" asked Scootaloo. "I mean, I've never had anything strong like an appletini or you know anything that could get me tipsy. Almost did once. Remember when we snuck into that wild party last month that Pinkie Pie threw?"

The other girls laughed.

"Twilight Sparkle swore that whatever she put in that punch wasn't legal, and Pinkie Pie apparently had put linseed on some of those cupcakes. Though it's a miracle she had enough of that stuff to sprinkle on one cupcake, let alone six," said Scootaloo with a rough laugh. She also looked insanely impressed.

"You girls are really missing out. I mean, we only save linseed for when someone is really hurts and we need to give them something that will take off the edge off," said Apple Bloom. "I only got it once when I broke my leg. But granny swears by salt. Applejack worries that she's addicted, but it's not like its strong. And hey, everyone one in the Apple family always has apple cider to drink before we sell."

"Better not tell Rainbow Dash," said Scootaloo playing with some of the roots with her hoof. "She'll say that's the reason she never got any cider."

"Oh, believe me, we knew. It was a family joke," said Apple Bloom. "And it's fine. I mean, we all need to relax a little. And Sweetie Belle said you had to cook it right to really get any use of it."

"I don't know, don't we want to be on our A game?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"But we won't be of any use unless we get a decent night's sleep," said Scootaloo and then he took as big of a bite of the roots as he could. Sweetie Belle moved uncomfortably, staring at the roots but picking up a small one from the ground. Apple Bloom watched her carefully. Ponies who didn't indulge had low tolerance for intoxicants. But it didn't look like Sweetie Belle was going to eat much of the root. Still, they weren't just eating the stuff so they could fall asleep; it was also the nutrients in the roots. Though, some grain would be good, but what she really needed was some salt. Salt was good, maybe not something you should eat a lot. It was something to occasionally indulge in.

Then Scootaloo started to pull out their blankets and stuffed animals and the two other girls cheered. Sweetie Belle whinnied more than usual, and she looked unsteady on her feet. Scootaloo just smiled lazily at her friends and reminded them that they would need some bug spray and then she lay down and started humming softly to herself. And then Scootaloo started singing softly under her breath. Sweetie Belle joined in soon and gave them a perfect song to sing themselves to sleep.

Sweetie Belle watched her friends fall asleep. Her head was muzzy, and the world didn't want to quite work. She had never been properly afraid of the Everfree Forest. Like her friends, she just saw the place as the perfect area to play and be out of the way. Here they would find their talent and it would be something exciting, something worth talking about.

When would they get their cutie marks? The last week they had tried all of three times actually trying to get their cutie marks. Well, at least now they would know if their talent was depression by now. Apple Bloom hadn't so much tried to hide it as she had avoided them and then sulked whenever she had stopped spying on her family and come back to the clubhouse. Scootaloo had spent most of her time scooter doing increasingly more reckless and frightening tricks, when she wasn't doing that she was doing other frightening tricks and sports. Anything that kept her away from any pony who wasn't her friend, anything that let her not think. And Sweetie Belle, well, she knew how Zecora must have felt. Every door had been slammed in her face, even Zecora and the mules, the cows had turned their backs, the pigs had charged her, and the little animals of the forest had run away.

Sweetie Belle had started to hate ponies. She had practically kicked at the running animals. Her sister made her angry on a normal day; now with Rarity looking down on her constantly, not even telling her what was wrong, what they hadn't put in their apology. She had just acted like Sweetie Belle knew that she had done something wrong. Like Sweetie Belle herself was wrong. Gabby Gums hadn't been anything really bad. She'd been a gossip. No one had believed in Gabby Gums in the end. Sweetie Belle knew other fillies did this. She'd heard her sister talk about the latest dirty news from Canterlot and read her gossip magazines that had nothing in them but nasty things about other ponies, including Princess Celestia.

So what they had been doing hadn't been that bad. Ponies had just been being overly sensitive. Plus, they'd tried to write nice things, but apparently ponies didn't want to read about nice things. They wanted to read about the dirt on other ponies. And what did any pony in Ponyville have to complain about some pony being a little harsh in the papers? Sweetie Belle had been ridiculed all the time before she met Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. Her own family had called her the sensitive bite, she had two aunts who could be especially nasty when they pointed out all the things Sweetie Belle did 'wrong'.

Her friends and her hadn't done anything wrong.

Still, this would blow over. It had to blow over. Sweetie Belle would get her friends to her parents when they came home. They would be scolded, but not thrown out like every other pony had done. Her parents couldn't treat her as horribly as the rest of the town, and even her sister had treated her. Her parents weren't like Scootaloo's father who was volatile and prone to only talking to her daughter when she did something wrong, well there was more than that, but sometimes it was hard to see. And, well, Apple Bloom didn't have a mother and father; she had a sister and brother who tried to be parents without really getting what that meant, and a grandmother who wasn't as keen as she'd always been. So of course they thought it was hopeless, but Sweetie Belle knew better. She knew what it was like to have real parents who could never abandon you no matter what.

Sweetie Belle had a plan, but she didn't know how to tell her friends that. She didn't know what was worse. That her parents weren't coming back for another six days, or that she was the only one who had parents who really cared and did the right thing. Anyway, they'd needed some food. Grass was good, and a week and a half of it wouldn't kill them. But Apple Bloom had already lost a lot of weight; even Scootaloo was starting to look thin. And worse was watching them have to deal with the hatred directed at them by ponies they looked up to. They needed a distraction.

So Sweetie Belle would wait, and slowly they'd work their way back into Ponyville. They'd do whatever punishment Sweetie's parents assigned. They'd ask how to properly apologize, and then her parents would blow up at the school board over the fact they couldn't go to school anymore and chastise their families for turning their backs when their children needed them so badly. Maybe someone would point out that Diamond Tiara approved each article and deserved some of the blame too.

Maybe-maybe everything would be alright. They had a week, only a week and then things would be right again.


	2. Forest Fever

Author's Note: Merry Christmas.

Warnings: Violence, uncomfortable subjects, death (not of a major character), underage drinking (sorta). If I should add warnings, tell me.

Chapter Two: Forest Fever

They woke up to Scootaloo throwing up in the bushes to the side of the clearing. Her orange coat seemed soaked in sweat so much so that her mane stuck to her neck.

"One of the plants must have been poisonous," said Sweetie Belle, frowning in Scootaloo's direction as the orange filly groaned.

"What? I thought we all agreed not to eat anything until you had identified if it was good or not," said Apple Bloom worriedly.

"We did, but Scoot picked her roots with her mouth yesterday. She didn't carry them in her pouch like you did," said Sweetie Belle. A bad thought entered Apple Bloom's head.

"And she didn't have scissors like me," a sob caught in the earth pony's throat. "This is all my fault."

"No," Sweetie Belle practically shouted and then she blushed. "No, Scootaloo should have realized, I should have…"

"It's no use fighting, and Sweetie's right," said Scootaloo, who still looked like she could be sick at any moment. She stumbled a little and both her friends ran to make sure she didn't fall over. They led her over to her blanket and laid her down. Scootaloo still looked green and sweaty, but at least she wasn't throwing up anymore.

"We need to get her back to Ponyville," said Sweetie Belle, prancing from one hoof to the other.

"Will they help her?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Of course they will," said Sweetie Belle, but almost immediately she seemed to lose her confidence and almost deflate. "They have to."

"Like they have to take care of us because we're fillies?" asked Apple Bloom, not daring to look up at her friend. Sweetie Belle felt her chest constrict and then shook her head, her mane flopping limply from side to side, twigs caught in her curled mane.

"What else can we do?" asked Sweetie Belle softly. Apple Bloom sighed and looked around the Everfree forest. What could they do? They were just fillies, worse, they were blank flanks. How could they be expected to cure their friend? They weren't one of the doctors at the hospital, or Zecora with her fancy potions.

And then Sweetie Belle smiled. Apple Bloom had been the one who had spent the most time with Zecora. Sweetie Belle wasn't sure what it was about the potions her earth pony friend liked so much, potions weren't Apple Bloom's talent (they'd checked), but maybe Apple Bloom's interest would mean they could save Scootaloo. Apple Bloom just had to remember what she'd learned.

"Do you remember anything from your lessons with Zecora?" asked Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom looked uncertain. "A potion that cured food poison, or…"

"I know this," said Apple Bloom, cutting off Sweetie Belle. She had to think and Sweetie Belle was just distracting her. She scrunched her eyes closed and tried to think back to her lessons with Zecora. "I know this! Zecora gave me a lesson in antidotes when we first met, because of that poisonous joke incident. Before we do anything, we have to figure out what she ate. Scootaloo, what exactly do you feel, besides nauseous?"

"Sick, hot, muscles hurt, headache, sore throat," said Scootaloo and then coughed. "So tired."

"Don't go asleep," said Apple Bloom and then she turned to Sweetie Belle. "Your book has a description of possible symptoms to consuming each plant, right? Did you read any of them?"

"I don't remember, but I made a mark on the ones I was able to figure out. Let me just look, maybe it'll come back to me," said Sweetie Belle and then she rushed over to look at the book. Apple Bloom nodded. Scootaloo also coughed and in Apple Bloom made it clear that she had to do something that second. But Zecora had been very clear. When someone was poisoned, especially like this, a pony had to be careful. Scootaloo wasn't allowed to eat, and until they knew what she'd been poisoned with Apple Bloom couldn't really treat Scootaloo.

Scootaloo had said she felt hot so the pegasus probably had a fever. Apple Bloom took her own blanket and poured some cool water on it until it was soaked through. She carefully arranged it on Scootaloo's forehead. Scootaloo moaned and her legs gave a little kick.

"Don't go to sleep Scoot, not yet," whispered Apple Bloom. She felt tears in her eyes as she looked down at her sick friend. How long had the orange filly been sick? She hadn't shown any symptoms the night before. Apple Bloom knew she would have noticed at the very least when they all were a little tipsy, well, when the other girl's were tipsy. She had more tolerance to intoxicants.

"Hush now," she whispered. What if it was bad? What if this was the kind of poison that slowly ate away at a pony until they died? What if it was slow and painful and what they really should be doing was cantering as fast as they could to Zecora's so the zebra could heal Scot? What if Scootaloo died? What would they do? Apple Bloom didn't think she'd ever be able to go home. How could she tell any pony back home that Scootaloo was dead because they were stupid enough to go into the Everfree Forest? Would they would blame her for Scot's death? Would they think Scootaloo deserved to die for all she'd done? No, that was horrible. Apple Bloom couldn't believe that.

Apple Bloom started to cry. Her friend could be dead, and she was worried that everypony would hate her. How could she think that at a time like this? It was horrible. No, she had to concentrate on saving Sweetie Belle, that's all that mattered.

"It's alright. I'll be fine," said Scootaloo weakly, and Apple Bloom felt awful. Scootaloo looked like she was a step away from death's door, and the orange filly was trying to comfort her.

"I found it!" shouted Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom smiled and stroked Scootaloo's mane before she ran back to Sweetie Belle. She came to a sudden stop in front of the unicorn who immediately started reading from her book. "Here we go. These were one of the last things Scootaloo brought to me to inspect. They're called Heart's Bite. The early symptoms fit what Scootaloo said: nausea, flu like symptoms, fatigue. Check if they're little red dots on her tongue."

Apple Bloom went over in a flash to pegasus. She smiled widely at Scootaloo but felt a little weird sticking her hoof into her friend's mouth. Still, it looked like Scootaloo might have fallen asleep again. Apple Bloom opened Scootaloo's mouth and gave it a quick once over.

"Yup, is there a cure?" asked Apple Bloom, a little concerned that Sweetie Belle had stopped talking for a few moments after she finished reading the symptoms. Sweetie Belle bit her lip.

"Well, those aren't all the symptoms, those are just the first ones," said Sweetie Belle. She could feel herself sweating when Apple Bloom looked at her in horror. "She'll still be fatigued and nauseous, but her cough will become wetter, her heart will start beating faster, her legs will swell, and eventually she'll be completely unresponsive."

"What about the cure?" asked Apple Bloom before Sweetie Belle could get to the last symptom. Sweetie Belle's eyes immediately looked down at the page. She probably didn't want to keep reading.

"We need a jade flower," said Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom froze, hitting her head with her hoofs. What was a jade flower? It took thinking, but she remembered before Sweetie Belle had finished up looking up the flower. Apple Bloom was almost one hundred percent sure where to find what they were looking for. Still, she cantered over to Sweetie Belle just as the other's hoof stopped on the right page. "These flowers aren't going to be found here. Our best bet would to go to Zecora's and ask her."

Sweetie Belle looked hopeful, but she still looked worried, her eyes glued down on the book. Apple Bloom trotted to her, snapped the book shut, and shoved it into Sweetie Belle's pack.

"No, she's too far away, and it's too much of a risk that she wouldn't give it to us," said Apple Bloom. She started picking up their stuff and shoving it into their pacts. When she was gone she threw Scootaloo's pack over her own. And then Apple Bloom looked down on Scootaloo, her mind working furiously because she knew they couldn't leave Scootaloo here on her own. "I know where I've seen them before. Remember when we got catapulted to that old castle?"

"When we were attacked by brownies?" asked Sweetie Belle dryly.

"Um yeah, but those flowers were there. Fluttershy pointed them out because she thought they were beautiful," said Apple Bloom. "Plus, we know not to break anything in there anymore."

"Yeah, I guess there are worse things living in this forest," said Sweetie Belle. "Do you know the way there?"

"Well, I think it's in that direction," said Apple Bloom, pointing in the direction they'd been heading before they'd stopped to scavenge for food the day before. "But I need help making the sling so we can take Scootaloo to our next destination."

Sweetie Belle trotted next to Apple Bloom, looking sadly down on her sick friend. It took some maneuvering, but eventually they got Scootaloo wrapped up tight in their blankets and attached the ends to themselves so they could drag Scootaloo behind them. Sweetie Belle tried for a few minutes to levitate Scootaloo with her magic, but she couldn't levitate a leaf. Scootaloo coughed and Sweetie Belle thought it sounded like one of those 'wet' coughs. So she gave up, Apple Bloom's tumbling was more effective than her trying to finally learn magic.

Apple Bloom hoped they were going in the right direction, and that it wouldn't take too long to get to the castle. Hopefully it would take fifteen minutes, thirty minutes tops. But she just wasn't sure. And she really didn't think that it was good for Scootaloo's health to be dragged across the ground like dead weight for very long. `Still, Scootaloo was in no shape to follow along or even move and they needed to get the jade flower fast.

The forest seemed to do on and on, only trees for miles and it felt like they would never reach their destination. Why should they? It might have been a straight forward path if they had started from Ponyville, but now, well, they had gone across a river, and that was one of the things they had to go by, and thankfully they had yet to into any monsters, but Apple Bloom was starting to wonder if they were even going in the right direction.

And then Apple Bloom saw the castle. Sweetie Belle saw it a moment later. They quickly started to untangle themselves from the blanket. They couldn't take Scootaloo across the bridge that way, there were some planks missing, and Scootaloo's weight would drag them all down into abyss below. Really, the bridge didn't look safe enough for one filly to cross, let alone three at once. In the best case scenario they would send Scootaloo across on her scooter while flapping her wings frantically first. But Scootaloo was the one who was sick, and she was starting to get worse.

"Throw her on my back," said Apple Bloom, bending down so it would be easier to push the pegasus onto her back.

"Why don't you two stay here and I'll go across to get the flower?" asked Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.

"We're really far into the Everfree Forest," Apple Bloom pointed out. "We can't let our eyes off each other for a moment. As far as we know, the trees are planning to come to life and kill us."

Sweetie Belle eyed the rickety bridge before snorting and shaking her head in frustration. Still, she didn't contradict Apple Bloom, and even help push Scootaloo onto her friend's back. Still, this seemed like more of a risk than anything. And really, even if Sweetie Belle couldn't fly, she was a fast runner. She could zip over to the old castle, take a flower, and then zip back over to her friends and feed Scootaloo the antidote.

As they crossed the bridge, it felt like the fillies heart was going to pound out of her chest. Or maybe that was Sweetie Belle's own heart racing in fear. Sweetie Belle hoped so. She hoped her imagination was getting away from her and making extra heart beat sounds where there was none. No, that it put in heart beats where she shouldn't be able to feel any. Sweetie Belle wished she hadn't read the book. Everything would have been simpler if they had just eaten grass. She should have told her friends about her parents coming home in a couple of days. What sort of friend was she to keep that sort of thing hidden from ponies she cared about?

"Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom's voice made Sweetie Belle jump in surprise. The yellow filly was halfway across the bridge already. Sweetie Belle smiled nervously and started cantering at full speed across the bridge. Still, this all seemed too easy. No dark forbidding shapes, no wild angry animals trying to kill them, there hadn't even been an eerie fog blanketing the forest floow.

"Apple Bloom," said Sweetie Belle slowly. "Don't you think it's, maybe, a little too quiet?"

"Don't look a gift ponies in the mouth," scolded Apple Bloom, leaning over and letting Scootaloo slowly slip to the ground. Her packs almost fell off along with her friend, but Scootaloo didn't seem bothered. Then again, Scootaloo wasn't doing much of anything at the moment, and she had just been thrown everywhere while they cantered to the castle. Apple Bloom wondered if her friend's breathing seemed a little labored at the moment, as if it was hard for her to breathe. But Sweetie Belle hadn't named that as one of the symptoms. Still, it seemed like an obvious one with the other ones, right? "We need to get that flower."

"Right," said Sweetie Belle, trotting up and then gulping as she looked up at the castle. It really was a sad looking place. It looked like a stiff wind would send it all toppling over and vines grew on and into the very stones. "How do you think Luna got away with wreaking the spirits of harmony with the brownies everywhere?"

"They hadn't moved in yet," suggested Apple Bloom, and then her expression become more determined. "Or they knew better than to attack something that was actually powerful. I mean, once Fluttershy stared them down we didn't see them again. They probably only attacked us because they knew they could beat us. And we need to get that flower so we can't be scared blank flanks anymore."

"But maybe we shouldn't get it in the castle," Sweetie Belle suggested slowly, since no matter how grown up they tried to act, they still were blank flanks. Apple Bloom thought this over and then nodded.

"They'd probably gang up on us if they saw us break the stem," said Apple Bloom while rolling her eyes. She then trotted forward, not waiting for any more excuses. They were at the castle now, and Scootaloo wasn't making any signs that she was getting better. They couldn't dilly dally any more. Scootaloo needed that antidote.

Apple Bloom headed to one side of the castle stairs and Sweetie Belle on the other. Apple Bloom dug at the wet dirt, unearthing some worms, but no blue flowers. She remembered them because they looked like thin glass, but felt hard when any pony touched them. Pinkie Pie had broken one, but she had been jumping around and had stomped on the plant four hooves first. Still, Apple Bloom didn't see any on the vine that was closest to her. What if they weren't in season? What if they were like the poison joke?

Apple Bloom shook her head and looked where the vines, or time, had crumbled the wall and big stones fell across the forest floor. The filly shivered. Winter wasn't close yet, but winter in Ponyville was different from the winter in the Everfree Forest. Unlike the rest of the world, the Everfree Forest would start and end its own winter, but they had always been parallel to Ponyville's winter season. But maybe the inside of the forest was different than the outside.

"I found it!" shouted Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom ran back to see Sweetie Belle throw a bunch of flowers onto the ground and then stomp on them. She almost shouted, but then shut her mouth shut with a click. Scootaloo wouldn't be able to eat the hard flower whole on a good day, certainly not now that she was so sick.

Apple Bloom tried to arrange Scootaloo so she would be in a good position to drink down the antidote instead of letting it spill all over her friend. Sweetie Belle pulverized the hard plant, the tough petals scratching against itself and the ground as it turned slowly into a fine powder. Sweetie Belle then pushed the powder onto a leaf, and then into the top of her canteen, she then mixed in a little bit of water.

"It would be better if we had honey," said Sweetie Belle. "But the book said it wasn't absolutely necessary, only that Scootaloo's throat was probably sore and the honey would help the antidote go down."

Apple Bloom nodded, not really listening, just watching Sweetie Belle levitate the antidote and then bring it to Scootaloo's mouth. The earth pony didn't dare point out to her pink maned friend that Sweetie Belle was finally doing a levitation spell. The moment Sweetie Belle acknowledged what she was doing, the moment the antidote would be dropped, and it was hard enough to find the first one. Apple Bloom titled her friends muzzle Sweetie Belle aimed it just right so the antidote mostly went down Scootaloo's throat. Apple Bloom tried to massage her friend's throat like Applejack had done to her the few times Apple Bloom got sick and had to drink one of the horrible concoctions. But then Scootaloo started coughing and the antidote started dripping down her coat. Apple Bloom held Scootaloo's mouth shut then, and prayed that enough made it into her friend's system so Scootaloo would be okay.

Scootaloo fought a little. It felt like the inside of her throat was in tatters and someone was forcing an entire apple down her throat the wrong way. Her eyes were ringing and she couldn't hear much, and what she could hear was disjointed and made no sense. She tried to break free of whatever was holding her down, but she couldn't. It didn't help that she felt so weak; the thing that felt like a bolder could very well be a blanket.

Was this a good idea? She had wanted to get out of Ponyville. This had been the perfect way to get out of Ponyville, but this wasn't what she had imagined running away would be like. She had always seen her great escape as an adventure where she finally learned how to fly either by herself or with Rainbow Dash's help and then take to skies and toward Cloudsdale where the pegasus would see the tricks she could do and she'd get a full scholarship into the flying school there. Or maybe she'd take to the road, go out to one of the settlements in the west where they needed the extra protection a pegasus, even a grounded one could supply. There she could scooter wide open ground miles and miles where she could scooter to her heart's content. She even a fantasy where she did go into the Everfree Forest and she had adventures of her own where she Fought manticores, overcame cockatrice, and beat every single obstacle that came into her way.

She'd be like Daring Doo, Rainbow Dash's favorite hero.

But her friends had hardly ever entered those fantasies. They had sometimes, mostly when she was in the Everfree Forest. But her friends were born in Ponyville, and they were softer than Scootaloo. Apple Bloom would never leave Sweet Apple Acres, maybe she would go somewhere for vacation, or go explore the world for a week, but she'd eventually find her way back to farm that was just the way her family way. Sweetie Belle might leave Ponyville. She'd retain connections to her home town, maybe even a house, but then she'd take up some job that had her moving constantly from town to town, doing whatever. But Sweetie Belle didn't have a stomach for real adventures. She'd be more like her parents with a nice, boring, steady job.

But Scootaloo never imagined she would stick around in Ponyville all her life. She couldn't. Her place was out there among the clouds or in the wide open plains. Her parents were the ones who had been obsessed with Ponyville and the 'Ponyville method'. Her father hated his wings; maybe it was because her mother had been an earth pony and had made it clear she loved him despite his wings. All Scootaloo knew was that he had always been disappointed that she had been born with wings. So Scootaloo never learned to properly fly. She was stopped from trying to learn to fly on her own, and now she was afraid she would never be able to fly properly. She'd be a pathetic, grounded pegasus like Fluttershy.

And all because her dad was trying to 'honor' his late wife's memory.

Slowly the world stopped spinning. Scootaloo wished there was a moment before she remembered what an idiot she was, but it was all there and she still felt stuffy. Her head was pounding, and her throat made her feel like she'd swallowed a cactus. And now she felt stupid. Of course, she shouldn't have picked those plants with her mouth. She should have realized that one of her friends would have brought scissors, or something similar to get the plants without killing themselves. They probably thought she would have brought something to get the plants or would have asked them.

Still, Scootaloo had told them about the blankets, and they hadn't been smart enough to bring their own. Why had they just left her like that? Sweetie Belle hadn't been so involved in the books that she couldn't have warned her!

"She's starting to look better." Scootaloo blinked and then shook her mane and slowly started to try and get her hooves under her. She stumbled and almost collapsed. This was embarrassing, she felt like a new born foal. "Careful Scootaloo, you're still a little shaky."

"I'm fine," muttered Scootaloo, pushing away from her friends. Her knees buckled, but she just stared hard at the ground. Her friends tried to help her up, but she just pushed them away. "Where are we going now?"

"Home," said Sweetie Belle.

"But the food," said Apple Bloom, and then clamped her mouth shut, eyes glancing over to Scootaloo.

"We don't need it," said Sweetie Belle. She bit her lip, but this was too important. She couldn't act like a scared little filly afraid of her own loot in life anymore. Her fear had almost caused her friend's death. "Mom and dad are coming home and then we'll all have somewhere to stay."

"What?" asked Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle blushed.

"Not right away. They're away on another trip and will be back by next week. I thought we should get food to survive on until then," said Sweetie Belle.

"I guess that makes sense," said Apple Bloom slowly. "But it's obviously too dangerous for us here. Something's different when you don't have somepony watching out for you. It's not like we have Fluttershy ready to track us down and stare down whatever tried to attack us. We'll go home and then maybe you can convince you're parents to take us in or give you food."

Sweetie Belle smiled and nodded her head. She practically felt like trotting in happiness.

"No," said Scootaloo. Both ponies turned toward their orange friend. "I'm not going back to Ponyville."

"But you almost died," said Sweetie Belle, who then recoiled at the glare her friend sent her.

"I don't care. Ponyville has nothing for me now. I'm finding my way out the end of the Everfree Forest and then I'm going to Cloudsdale."

"What? But we can't go to Cloudsdale," said Apple Bloom and then her eyes narrowed. "How long have you been planning on ditching us?"

"It's never been a real plan," said Scootaloo and then she stood her ground. "No, it's always been a plan to leave Ponyville and find someone to teach me how to fly properly before my wings fall off from disuse. But I didn't plan to do it with you two. I hadn't even made real plans yet, but now that I'm here I think it's the perfect time to take off."

"But what about everypony in Ponyville?" said Sweetie Belle, though she quickly realized that this wasn't the right thing to say, especially considering their current situation. "What about us?"

"You two will be fine. The forest is quiet and you'll get home easy. I'm off to Cloudsdale," said Scootaloo.

"But you don't even know the way," snapped Apple Bloom. "And even if you did you, what do you think is going to happen when you get to Cloudsdale? You steal some bits from your old stallion before you left? That flying school costs money."

"I'll get a scholarship," said Scootaloo. Apple Bloom turned away from her friend angrily. Scootaloo didn't understand. Because her family was estrange she didn't know what it was like to worry about money. She'd never had to listen to a family meeting where they all sat together and talked about how they could raise more money and what they had to cut back on until then. It wasn't that Apple Acres was hurting for money, not in the traditional sense, but they needed every big rush with special products that came along. Her family couldn't sell in the winter, and the only time they had enough money to splurge was after the zap apple and cider seasons. Sometimes it still felt like it wouldn't be enough to keep the old place running. The land cost money, something always went wrong or broke and fixing that would take time and bits, their family was big and a lot of those bits went to buying food, clothes, and necessities they couldn't just grow.

"You know how you get a scholarship?" asked Apple Bloom, snorting through her nose. "Because my brother tried that once. He wanted to go to one of those fancy schools in the city so we could better manage our money and make the farm more efficient. He didn't even get enough to pay for a fourth of the cost, and we couldn't spare a bit because we weren't only poor but also losing one of our best and strongest workers."

"Well, you just didn't try hard enough," said Scootaloo and then she trotted backward as Apple Bloom took a couple of quick steps toward her, quickly pushing the pegasus against the stone of the castle. A bit of moss scraped off onto Scootaloo's orange coat.

"You don't get it Scootaloo. You don't get a scholarship because you're bad at something and you need training, you don't even get it if you need it. You only get it if you already good at it and they think they can train ya to be the best," said Apple Bloom.

"But that doesn't make any sense," said Scootaloo.

"Maybe not, but that's the way things are. My sister looked into it because she was mad. Everywhere works that way. Even Cloudsdale. Actually, they're one of the worst when it comes to scholarships and things like that," said Apple Bloom, shoving her friend a little. Scootaloo punched back.

"You're sister must have just been bluffing. You're family would say anything to your family together," said Scootaloo. Apple Bloom turned red.

"No we wouldn't. We support each other, even Braeburn when he went off to settle in the west. We don't force family together. Most of us live all throughout Equestria," Apple Bloom pointed out. "We're just not as flimsy about family as yours is."

"What did you say?" shouted Scootaloo, and the little space between the two friends disappeared as they attacked one another. It was a flurry of quick kicks that missed or glanced harmlessly off their sweaty coats, harmless mane pulling, and biting not even hard enough to draw blood. They kicked up dust, and soon there was enough to almost obscure them from view. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and stared back over the bridge. This wasn't going like it was supposed to. Why couldn't it be the old days when they went into the Everfree Forest or get into pointless arguments just for the fun of it?

A howl sounded from somewhere in the forest. Sweetie Belle's ears flicked to attention, but the sound was soft and mostly overwhelmed by the yelling and name calling behind her.

Another howl split and rang through the forest and Sweetie Belle felt herself instinctively stiffen as if she was getting ready to run away. It sounded kind of like a wolf's howl, though she couldn't be sure.

"Uh, guys," she tried, but the shouting behind her continued and Sweetie Belle hummed the tune of a lullaby under her breath. She was just hearing things.

Another howl split the air something was coming, fast and in a herd, and Sweetie Belle was sure that she now could hear feet on the ground and twigs snapping. "Guys, I think something is coming our way."

She practically shouted the last part, and as she did a loud howl finally pierced through the forest loud enough to pause the fillies in their fighting. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo stropped fighting, paused and locked together mid fight. Scootaloo was on the ground, front hooves pushing against Apple Bloom's chest while Apple Bloom held Scootaloo's ear in her mouth.

"Timberwolves," shouted Apple Bloom, immediately backing up from her friend and then helping Scootaloo to stand. "We need to get out of here."

"Are they able to cross the bridge?" asked Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

"We'll just untie the ropes on this side so they can't cross it," said Scootaloo, starting to trot toward the bridge. Apple Bloom caught her tail and pulled her back.

"We need to run," said Apple Bloom and then glared at her friends when neither of them moved. "Timberwolves are mighty powerful. They'd be able to jump that gap."

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle glanced behind them at the bridge and then back at their friend.

"Are you sure?" asked Scootaloo slowly and skeptically. "That doesn't seem possible."

Another howl, this time even closer. Now they could definitely hear the sounds of paws and cracking twigs.

"You want to find out?" shouted Apple Bloom, already turning tail and starting to run. Her two friends didn't bother to answer, just turned with her and started to canter after her. The cutie mark crusaders took off. Sweetie Belle paused only for a second. She closed her eyes, and concentrated, there was a crack that was somewhere between the sound of a small chime or breaking glass that appeared to emanate from her horn and then the ropes on the bridge snapped. Sweetie Belle didn't wait to watch the bridge fall; if Apple Bloom was right then this wouldn't slow them down for long.

The fillies ran, sweat poured down their flanks and into their eyes. Apple Bloom almost ran into a tree and Sweetie Belle tripped five times and was limping. Scootaloo had tried to fly, but the trees always seemed to be too crowded when she first took the first leap, or her wings wouldn't beat strong enough to do more than give her a quick jump, once Scootaloo swore she saw a dragon overhead.

That was another problem; now that Scootaloo was fixed up, everything in the Everfree Forest seemed to be waking up. They still hadn't seen anything but trees; they hadn't even seen the timber wolves, though they could still hear the monsters chasing them. But they did hear things. The rustle of a low bush, the sound of cawing or chirping bird, the roar of something that sounded like a bear.

Apple Bloom lived in fear of running through something like the poison joke or a plant that turned out to be even more deadly. Sweetie Belle kept an eye out for any mystical monsters. Scootaloo only knew they had to get out of the forest. The forest couldn't be that big. It didn't cover the rest of Equestria, or really that much of it. It wasn't like the Everfree Forest stretched on forever. Actually, it was small in comparison to the stories Scootaloo heard her mother tell her when she was young. As soon as they got out of the forest they would be safe. Or safer. At least the outside world operated on a set of rules that Scootaloo understood.

Finally Sweetie Belle collapsed. Her breath was harsh and grating. Scootaloo stared at her, trying to gulp for breath and curl in on herself. She was sure she'd be able to get more air, or that getting the air would hurt less as long as she let her body naturally curl in tighter on itself.

"Oh no you don't," said Apple Bloom, catching her and pushing her away. Scootaloo glared at her friend. Scootaloo couldn't take another step, and it looked like Sweetie Belle was seconds away from passing out. Timber wolves or no timber wolves, they weren't going to be able to keep running. "You need to keep walking slowly; you'll get more oxygen that way. Walk around the cleaning until your breath evens out. I think I hear water, so try and find that while I help Sweetie Belle."

"Apple Bloom," said Scootaloo, still panting. Her friend turned on her. She looked angry.

"You want to cramp up? No? Then keep walking and find some water. Don't gulp it down. That'll make you throw up," Apple Bloom pushed at Scootaloo with her head, but the earth pony wasn't much better off than her friends, panting and wobbling on her feet with sweat stinging her eyes. She trotted off and started talking to Sweetie Belle, her voice soft. The packs on her back were almost falling off. Scootaloo went for water and Apple Bloom started to butt her head gently at her friend, trying to get her to stand.

Sweetie Belle whined and pulled away from Apple Bloom. The unicorn's entire body felt like one huge cramp. But she had never been one for running. When she was younger, sure, she'd run around, and even with her friends she tended to get caught up in the fun. But there was always a part of her that told her she needed to slow down, that there was hardly any point to excessive exercise in civilized groups. More importantly, running wasn't something ponies did for real travel unless that was their job. If a pony wanted to go anywhere far she got a carriage, a train, or anything like that. Civilized ponies didn't run.

Now Sweetie Belle was sweaty, her mane had all sorts of things in it, and she her body was tense and shaking.

"Sweetie Belle?" Sweetie Belle shook her mane and tried to curl into a ball. Her entire body hurt, it just wanted to curl up and never move again. "Come on. You need to get a little water into you."

Sweetie Belle just shook her mane, and Apple Bloom sighed. Sweetie Belle just curled into herself and then tried to breathe in as deeply as she could so that her lungs would stop screaming for air. Apple Bloom sighed and Sweetie Belle let out a breathless squeaked as she was rolled across the ground, trigs and dirt getting caught in her hair and mane, though she couldn't be bothered to care over how much her muscles were screaming at her for running for so long.

Apple Bloom pushed Sweetie Belle into the water, and then thought that might have been a stupid idea when her friend started screaming.

"Good going Apple Bloom," said Scootaloo sarcastically as she pushed the now silent but stunned Sweetie Belle back onto the shore. Apple Bloom ignored them both. She did what she felt she had to, and both of them were fine, just acting like babies. She took a long draught of water, but she did try to remember to pace herself. Scootaloo was helping Sweetie Belle now, despite her obvious dislike at how Apple Bloom had gotten Sweetie Belle to the water, Scootaloo was still following her advice.

"We should keep going," said Scootaloo, looking back in the direction they had come from. Apple Bloom looked up at her friend and glared, but then realized Scootaloo didn't mean they should run away from Ponyville.

"You think the Timberwolves are still chasing us?" she asked.

"I'm surprised they didn't catch up to us. You're gran knows a way to keep them away though," said Scootaloo grudgingly.

"Yeah, but we don't have any pots and pans," said Apple Bloom. "Though we should take this time to fill our canteens."

Apple Bloom took out hers and Scootaloo's. Scootaloo went through Sweetie Belle's back until she found her friend's canteen.

"I can make a loud sound, though not with pots and pans," said Sweetie Belle weakly. She forced herself to stand and then take a huge draft of the water from the river. She winced at the taste, but maybe she was just too picky, used to being told only to drink water from bottles.

"We just need loud sound, and lots of it," said Apple Bloom, pretty sure she knew what she was talking about Sweetie Belle smiled weakly.

"My parents said it was one of the only spells I did when I was a baby," said Sweetie Belle. "I can make noise and lightning."

"What?" asked Sootaloo. "But I thought you couldn't do magic."

"I can't, not really. None of the spells would ever really work with whatever talent I had. I mean, the noise was never beautiful. Mom says that sometimes it sounds like a bell, but only when I do the lightning spell with it, and usually whenever I do that spell I end up shocking someone," said Sweetie Belle weakly.

"What?" asked Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle flinched. She hadn't been able to say the right thing since this entire problem started. She couldn't convince anypony in town to pay attention to her and realized how sorry they were. Her presence had only seemed to irritate ponies. In the Everfree Forest she'd had the job of making sure no one got poisoned, and Scootaloo had gotten poisoned the first day. She had freaked out when her orange friend was sick, and Apple Bloom ended up being the one with the cool head who had to do everything including making the plans, and caring both Scootaloo's packs and Scootaloo herself. Sweetie Belle hadn't helped at all.

"Why didn't you tell us this sooner?" asked Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle looked up at her friends sheepishly, but her smiled widened when she noticed that her friends were smiling at her.

"How can you know that your spells don't have something to do with your cutie mark?" asked Apple Bloom.

"But they're so useless. They're not like Rarity's or Twilight's," said Sweetie Belle.

"They only seem useless," said Apple Bloom rolling her eyes. "I bet that the cutie mark crusaders could have figured out how they were useful to your special talent."

"Yeah, Sweetie Belle. I can already think of a couple of things we could try right off the top of me head," said Scootaloo and then she stuck her tongue out in thought. "You could be like Vinyl Scratch or Lyra, but with bells. Or maybe there's a special sort of musical instrument that uses both those things that you're one of the few who can play it."

"Maybe you're just really good at making noise," said Apple Bloom.

"We'll figure it out on the way out of here," said Scootaloo with a shrug, securing her packs back on her back. They had lost her blanket along the way, and they still didn't have any food, but at least they weren't timber wolves food.

"Well, we should probably keep heading away from the timber wolves," said Sweetie Belle, standing up, though her legs shook.

"Are you sure?" asked Apple Bloom, watching her friends shaking on her legs uncertainly.

"If we don't start now, then I'm afraid I won't be able to find the strength," said Sweetie Belle. "Plus, we're completely lost. Best bet is to get out of the forest and then ask for directions home from the closest village."

"Alright. We'll get out of this forest and then figure out the way home," said Scootaloo. "And along the way we'll figure out our cutie mark and by the time we get home we'll prove our worth as ponies. This is just the adventure we needed to kick our romps into gear."

"We'll start with every adventure and skill we can do in the forest," said Apple Bloom.

"And we'll have our cutie marks in no time flat," said Scootaloo confidently.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders!" shouted the three fillies, putting their hooves together and then bringing them up triumphantly. They would show Ponyville and their families and they would be sorry they had treated the Cities Mark Crusaders so horribly."


	3. Our Old Talents

Author's Note: Die evil chapter of death.

Chapter Three: Our Old Talents

Scootaloo looked up at the sky. She knew that it was a horrible thought, but she wanted to fly up into the blue expanse until it became black and then just keep flying until she was mixed with the stars. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had been stuck in the Everfree Forest for a week now. Scootaloo had never dreamed she would one day describe the Everfree Forest as boring. But, after running away from the Timberwolves, the only thing of interest that had happened was they thought they might have seen a dark silhouette of a pony following them at night for the last three days. As consequence, Scootaloo had convinced her friends that at night at least one of them had to be awake at all times keeping watch. That way somepony was always watching and alert to see if the silhouette suddenly decided to attack them.

Unfortunately this new arrangement meant they were all a little sleep deprived and cranky. They didn't fight, much at least, not like they used to. The fillies definitely weren't physical in their fights anymore. But, all their nerves were edge, and Scootaloo was slowly becoming more and more frustrated with the fact that she couldn't fly high enough over the trees to see the end of the Everfree Forest. The pegasus supposed there was one good thing about her weak wings. Now, even if she wanted to, she couldn't just fly away and abandon her friends to the forest. On the other hand, sometimes she really hated that she couldn't fly away. Her friends drove her nuts sometimes, and it wasn't big thing either, just the smallest thing could irritate her these days like Apple Bloom's accent or Sweetie Belle's constant humming. Still, Scootaloo knew that if she lost track of her friends, she would never see them again. The forest was too big, and if she left them, she feared they could be dead by the end of the day.

Scootaloo looked to the sky and took in a deep breath, closing her eyes and letting exhaustion settle into her bones for a moment. Acknowledging its growing weight. Sweetie Belle was working on trying to do the levitation spell, but she could hardly lift a leaf an inch off the ground for a second. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo told her to stop and save her energy. Unicorns were only good at one, maybe two spells; levitation was something most unicorns learned eventually, but not always right away. Even though it was the first spell taught, a lot of unicorns first had to and master the spell that connected to their special talent before they were able to master levitation. Convincing Sweetie Belle that she needed to wait until she learned more spells had been hard. She didn't know any other spells. The one she had used on the bridge was one she made up herself, and it didn't make sense. Sweetie Belle knew she was wasting magic with the bell sound, but didn't know how to stop it. And there was no one to teach her since her parents were too busy to teach her, her sister too distractible to be a good teacher, and Twilight too intense to be a good teacher.

Apple Bloom looked around suddenly, pausing in her steady trot, before she started cantering toward a tree. Her friends followed slowly behind her, not running, but making sure Apple Bloom didn't canter out of sight. They'd been having a little trouble finding edible plants the last few days and they needed more space in their pacts to store the food they found but didn't eat. Sweetie Belle hadn't brought much with her when they ran away, so she storied most of their food, and there was some stilted arguments about getting rid of the useless crafts in Apple Bloom's pack. Apple Bloom had so far refused to get rid of her crafts, claiming they would be useless once they got out of the Everfree Forest and had to contact their families.

Under the tree Apple Bloom had run to, there were chestnuts in the prickly green shells that were a almost impossible to crack open. Still, the book said the nuts were edible, though it had a page of notes under that fact. Still, edible was edible, so the Cutie Mark Crusaders were opening the prickly shells and taking out the nuts and shoving them in the wilting flowers they'd pulled off a vine the day before. They ended taking the flowers out and eating them, and then throwing chestnuts still in their shells in instead of wasting time trying to open them. The things they ate these days never seemed enough. Apple Bloom could still hear her stomach rumbling for more food after they finished the flowers, and she swore her friends were starting to become skin and bones. It didn't help that they had only found one edible plants each day. Finally they had filled Sweetie Belle's pack with chestnuts. The chestnuts would last longer than the greens and flowers they usually ended up with, which was good. If only they weren't so hard to get into.

Apple Bloom looked up toward the sky. The forest was thick with trees, and every caw of a bird or rustle of the leaves made her fear that the inevitable monster would appear and kill them. Apple Bloom had never heard of the Everfree Forest being so quiet. Zecora always told her stories about monsters and odd magical plants and places that were close to her tree and all the tricks she had learned to escape or defeat them. Usually it was only seconds before the forest threw something dangerous at a pony who entered its borders, whether the threat was immediate or slow to take hold, it was there. Oh, at first the forest might seem quiet and maybe just a little creepy, but any situation a pony found herself in, no matter how benign it seemed had to be questioned when it took place in the Everfree Forest.

So, this silence was weird and worrying. Sweetie Belle's stomach was constantly knotted in worry she didn't think. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo even noticed how quiet it was. Sweetie Belle was sure they saw the forest as a playground. A dangerous playground, but to them the danger only increased the chances of a pony earning her cutie mark. Sweetie Belle did not share her friends' love of the Everfree Forest. She'd go into it without a thought, but only when her friends were with her. She felt invincible with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo at her side. But going in by herself or with another pony? No, she'd avoid the forest in those cases. She would avoid completely if possible, but for the moment she just wished Apple Bloom was more careful and Scootaloo was more careful after the poisoning scar. Though having someone on watch constantly was a good idea.

And now that they had been in the forest for a week, Sweetie Belle was sure that something sinister had to be happening that they just hadn't figured out yet. What other explanation was there for their easy passage so far? Was the forest itself playing a game with them? Maybe the forest was leading them around in circles, starving them and trying to drive them mad. Who really knew? All Sweetie Belle knew was while her friends were wary of the forest, they weren't frightened of it like she was, and that gave Sweetie Belle an edge. If any of them figured out first what the Everfree Forest was planning, it would be Sweetie Belle.

"It's almost midday," said Apple Bloom casually, glancing toward the sky and catching sight of a few trickles of sunlight through the dense canopy of branches and leaves. Scootaloo took this as her sign to try and fly high enough to see over the trees; unfortunately, her wings hurt from trying to fly the rest of the week and she had no coordination, so she got tangled in the low hanging branches and crashed back to the ground. Thankfully she only fell about a foot.

"I wish there weren't so many roots and rocks the ground," grumbled Scootaloo, her friends looked at her and she blushed. "I mean, we could zip out of here if we could use my scooter."

"But you didn't bring any helmets with you," said Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

"I'm good at scootering. I wouldn't crash us," said Scootaloo waving one hoof in dismissal. She then secured her pack as they started to continue their way through the forest. Apple Bloom shrugged.

"Maybe we could have used you scooter if we were on a road, but we can't let ourselves get caught in the 'what ifs'. We have what we have and must make the best we can with it," said Apple Bloom confidently. The words sounding rehearsed or repeated from her sister. "Come on, we need to find another water source. Our canteens are starting to get low."

"And our blankets are starting to get musty," said Sweetie Belle while scrunching up her nose just thinking about the smell. "We'll have to wash everything early in the morning so that they can dry in the sun."

Scootaloo stomped her hooves. Why did both her friends seem better at this than her? She had some ideas, but she the only good one was bothersome and her friends seemed to make all the really important decisions. Scootaloo was the one who liked to go on adventures. She was the one who always had the exciting "special talents" to try when the Cutie Mark Crusaders were trying to earn their cutie marks. She was the one who had experience in camping. So why were her friends the ones with the good ideas? They were the ones who got things done and used their heads. Scootaloo might have brought the canteens and blankets, but Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were the ones who kept them filled. Scootaloo had been the one to lose the other blankets. Celestia, it was because she got sick that they were now somewhere deep in the bowls of the Everfree Forest.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders continued in what they hoped was a straight line out of the forest, carefully skirting around a patch of poison jokes and a patch of bleeding tooth fungus. Sweetie Belle trotted and tried to levitate things without her friends noticing, flipping her mane over her horn before she started. The unicorn tried to levitate her saddle packs for a little while but they were too heavy. She never thought she'd think of her saddle packs as too heavy. She remembered Twilight Sparkle complaining that during her studies she sometimes had to fill her saddle bags so full that they hurt her back, but Sweetie Belle's bag never had more than two books and a couple of other school essentials. Now Sweetie Belle knew what Twilight Sparkle had been talking about. Even with her packs being the lightest of the three, since she only had one book and the food she could put it in the pacts, she still felt like she had a boulder on her back.

"Scootaloo, you think you could try to fly up high enough and see if there's a river or brook nearby?" asked Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo huffed in annoyance but tried again. This time she would climb as high as she could before trying to fly over the dense canopy. A twig snapped on the ground somewhere to their right. Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stared in that direction, waiting for some evil monster to jump out and attack them. But nothing happened, and as time stretched on, they started to wonder if the sound had only been in their heads.

Sweetie Belle turned to Scootaloo, who was trying to fly up to the next branch on the tree she was climbing. The pegasus really wasn't very good at flying. Scoot could hardly hover and her wings went so fast that they made noise like a humming bird. Was that normal? Maybe Scootaloo's wings weren't developed enough to fly yet. But other Pegasus were flying from birth like the Cake's colt. Maybe Scootaloo was right, maybe her wings would never be strong enough to fly Sweetie Belle shook that thought away. But Scootaloo used her wings all the time. Not necessarily to fly, but to give her more speed on her scooter. How could her wings not be developed? She was just a late bloomer was all.

Apple Bloom was also watching Scootaloo fly, but her thought were on surviving nighttime. While the days were stressful because they were waiting for the other ball to drop and their adventure to begin, Apple Bloom thought the nights were worse. She was glad Scootaloo had thought of sleeping in shifts because she hadn't been sleeping at all before that. Since their second night in the forest, it had felt like something was stalking them, like the forest itself is watching them and just waiting for a moment to make its move. Apple Bloom had drawn the stick for staying awake for the last shift, so, and she spent her days in sleepy fear of whatever it is that was following them showing up and attacking. Every day she was pretty sure she would never be able to sleep the next night, but when night came she instantly crashed after laying her head on her pack and only to woke up when Sweetie Belle roused her for her shift in the empty, silent, staring forest.

"It's to the right," said Scootaloo and then she whooped. Sweetie Belle winced at the noise, but Apple Bloom quickly joined in on the cheering. They were soon happily trotting in the direction of the stream Scootaloo had spotted. It was just noon, and hot, if the part of the river they got to immediately was sunny, then they should have no problem drying out their blankets.

And apparently their luck continued to hold out. Apple Bloom smiled and helped wash the blankets with Sweetie Belle, while Scootaloo filled their canteens upstream. It was all too perfect. No monsters attacked them, no creepy silhouette or trees with scary faces, the vegetation wasn't poisonous since that first night. The Everfree Forest didn't work this way. It had never worked this way. Ponies didn't just avoid the forest because it somehow worked without ponies, help. They avoided it because when a pony went in it, they came out with five new scars, were scared near death at least thirteen times, misunderstood another animal or situation fifty times, found themselves in peril at least ten times, and that was just if they were in for a day.

This nothing. This lack of action and trickery. It was unnerving. No matter how much the crusaders smiled or joked, they were just waiting for that terrible thing to happen.

They were hungry. They were sleep deprived. They were terrified.

"I've been thinking," said Sweetie Belle with a grin as she finished hanging up their blankets. "We need to earn our cutie marks before we get home, but maybe we need to get down to the basics first. Like what Twilight said. We need to concentrate on what we're already really good at and explore it more to see if it's our special talent."

"We tried that already," said Scootaloo, rolling her eyes.

"Sorta, but remember the stories they told us? They all talked about finding that thing they were good at by looking inside themselves. By discovering something that most of them already knew was there," said Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo snorted.

"Fluttershy didn't. She got her cutie mark only seconds after she'd first put hoof on the ground," said Scootaloo. But Apple Bloom actually seemed to be thinking about what Sweetie Belle said.

"No, I think I know what Sweetie Belle means. You guys know Twist right? Well, her special talent is making peppermint sticks, but she's been making those things since I met her and it took her until right before I met you guys before she realized it was her talent. We've been trying all these different things, but what if what we're really good at is something we've been doing all along and just haven't realized is what we're the best at yet?" said Apple Bloom, bouncing on the tip of her hoofs excitedly. "Even if we have tried something, maybe we just didn't give it enough time or chances for us to know for certain it was or wasn't our special talent."

"But we already tried that," said Scootaloo. "The talent show ended up being a joke. We even tried being comedians afterward, but that was worse. The talent show only worked on accident."

"No. I mean… when we did the talent show, we didn't try doing something we were already good at," Sweetie Belle pointed out and then she blushed. "After the show my sister asked me why I wasn't lead singer or wrote the song. I asked her if Twilight Sparkle told her I didn't write the song, and she said she could just tell."

"You think that you're talent is singing or song writing?" asked Apple Bloom excitedly. The white unicorn shook her head.

"No, I've tried that since I was little. My voice always cracks, and I can't sing in front of ponies," said Sweetie Belle.

"But what if it is and you're not giving it enough of a chance?" said Scootaloo, slowly starting to pick up on what her friends were getting at. Then a small smile appeared on her face and she started to hop with Apple Bloom, though her wings were humming so she stayed in air longer than Apple Bloom. "That's it. You're concentrating so hard on what you think you're bad at, that you're not letting your talent shine through. And the other one is just stage fright and uncertainty in your own talent."

"That's right," said Apple Bloom smiling. "You only did the dressmaking and props because your sister is a designer and you look up to her."

Sweetie Belle thought about this slowly and then nodded. She didn't look convinced, but her friends were sure that the singing was her talent than she would give singing a chance.

"And you," said Apple Bloom, turning on Scootaloo, whose wings froze and she landed on all fours, ready for her challenge to earn her cutie mark. "I bet yours could have something to do with chorography. Don't make that face."

"Think about it Scootaloo," advised Sweetie Belle, getting right in her friend's face so the pegasus had to pay attention to her. "You don't have to be a chorographer for dance or anything. What if you're meant to make up great chorography for scootering for extreme sport shows? I mean, you're great on your scooter, and you're even better when you have a routine to show us."

"I guess, but I've been scootering all my life, and I still don't have my cutie mark," pointed our Scootaloo.

"I've been singing all my life, and I don't have a cutie mark," Sweetie Belle pointed out.

"And Twist had been making peppermint sticks all her life, and it still took her nine years to figure out it was her special talent. And Applejack had been apple bucking all her life and it took her moving away to figure out it was her special talent. I think you have to wait and let the idea sink in and be open to it being your special talent before you realize that it is. Sometimes you find out dramatically, and sometimes you simply wake up and know," said Apple Bloom, talking a little stilted since she was discovering herself what it meant as she said it.

"So, we just have to keep exploring to earn our cutie mark, but remember to return to what we're good at to make sure that isn't our talent," said Scootaloo, though she still looked a little confused.

"Because what we're good at is probably our special talent," said Apple Bloom happily. "Mine, well, I guess it could be Kung Foo. I'm at it as long as I'm not trying to make it into a dance."

"Nah, you're definitely an architect," said Scootaloo offhand. The earth pony looked at her in shock and Scootaloo laughed. "You basically built our club house out of nothing. Actually, you built it out of worse than nothing."

"Scootaloo's right," said Sweetie Belle happily. "You didn't really let me help you rebuild it. I watched you for a little while. You were really good with a hammer and nail. I think it's your special talent too."

"Yeah, I guess," said Apple Bloom. Then a thought occurred to her. "But, one second. If we have figured out what our talent is and are open it. Doesn't that mean we should have our cutie marks now?"

They all instantly looked at their flanks and then sighed when they saw nothing there.

"Well, maybe that's not how it works," said Scootaloo. "I don't know about you girl's, but I'm still not sure about my talent being the chorography. I mean, scootering something I like to do, but I don't know if it's the best talent I could have chorography just sounds goofy."

"Well, we'll all work on our talents for the day, and then show each other what we did or produced before the sun sets," said Sweetie Belle and then looked up. It was an hour or so past none. "Alright girls?"

"Right," said Apple Bloom put her hoof our. Sweetie Belle put hers out too.

"Right," Scootaloo lifted hers next to her friends.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders!" said the girls and then threw their hoofs into the air.

"Remember to stay close by," shouted Sweetie Belle when she saw Scootaloo going off into the forest.

"Right," said her friends, though they sounded distracted.

They spent the rest of the day working on getting their cutie marks. Eventually they forgot that they were scared or hungry as they immersed themselves in earning their talents. Scootaloo took out her scooter and started looking around for a good place to do her tricks and flips. Yes, the ground was uneven and there was underbrush and inedible plants scattered around the forest floor. Still, she could make this work, a little imaginative thinking and with her skills… yeah, she'd be able to have something to show the girl's by the end of the day.

Sweetie Belle was already composing a song in her head. She had to stop sometimes to reflect and correct the song in her own head. Revising the lyrics on a mental sheet of paper. The way she composed a song was to first just sing what came to mind and then edit and figure out what it was actually about as she went along. But she was trying to be quiet about it. She couldn't let the other's hear until she had the song down perfectly.

Apple Bloom was in trouble. The other girls had easy enough assignments; all they needed were things they brought with them (or were born with). Apple Bloom needed tools to do her work. She needed hammers and nails and saws to begin building anything. But all she had were scissors, paper, glue, and an x-acto knife. Pretty useless for building anything substantial, but maybe she didn't have to build some grand tree house. Apple Bloom not only built things, she also made them beautiful. Maybe that could be her special talent. Her sister always said Apple Bloom had an eye for color, and while she enjoyed building things, her favorite part was painting and arranging the furniture, making all the elements in a room or house work harmoniously with each other.

So, with that in mind, Apple Bloom wandered into the woods, not too far, and found the perfect place to show her interior design skills while working outside.

"Um, guys. Guys," Sweetie Belle practically shouted. Instantly her friends were at her side, but there wasn't any danger so they looked at her in confusion. Sweetie Belle blushed. "It's starting to get dark."

They all looked up into the sky, and Apple Bloom found herself blushing. She was so used to the Everfree Forest being dark that she hadn't noticed her eyes adjusting to the darkening sky. Here though, by the river, the forest was less dense and the light also reflected inward from the water. It didn't help that the river was headed toward the sun, so that it hadn't sunk below the trees long ago and given them a more amount of time to get ready to stop activities and get ready to sleep. Apple Bloom sighed. They'd just got used to it getting dark long before they actually needed to stop, and they had only been in the forest a few days. Would this mess them up again?

"Well, I didn't see anything around here to eat. What about you girls?" asked Sweetie Belle as she started taking the chestnuts out of her bag. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo blushed; glad the white unicorns couldn't see their embarrassed expressions. They hadn't looked for food all day, they'd been so caught up in trying to get their cutie marks. Apple Bloom checked, but no, she still didn't have a cutie mark. Scootaloo didn't need to check, she knew she didn't. She had checked after every successful trick or cool new move. Her flank it was just as blank as ever.

"Um, no. No new food around here," said Apple Bloom slowly.

"Which is too bad. I could really go for some seaweed right now," said Scootaloo and then blushed. Seaweed was filly food. Thankfully her friends didn't seem to notice and had their own dreamy expressions clouding their eyes.

"Yeah, I could really go for some alfalfa right now," said Sweetie Belle, and even Apple Bloom thought back on her home treats filled with apples.

"Well, we have chestnuts," said Apple Bloom. "And we don't need to cook em, right?"

"No," said Sweetie Belle, though she did open her book to do a quick check.

"Why would we need to cook it?" asked Scootaloo, not even bothering to wait for Sweetie Belle to look up the nuts before she found a rock and started trying to crack the hard, prickly shell. The other fillies shrugged, and Sweetie Belle put the book to one side without reading it. They ended up agreeing that it seemed to take way too much work to actually get to the nut inside the shell. Still, the nut itself tasted alright, but by the time they had gotten almost enough to eat, they were all exhausted and Scootaloo wasn't looking forward to taking the first watch.

Apple Bloom led them to her little setup, making sure to remind Sweetie Belle to grab her pack and blankets. Scootaloo watched her friends get ready to sleep and looked around as best she could in the dark. The little area was less rough then they were used to, and Apple Bloom had done something as that the ground almost felt soft. The pegasus kept one eye on her friends so they went to sleep before turning back to glare at the sky. Clouds covered and all the stars what was probably now only a sliver of the moon. Scootaloo liked staring at the stars. She didn't know the constellations, but that didn't stop her from admiring them she spent a lot of time just making up her own constellation.

Keeping track of time was going to be difficult with the clouds blocking her view of the moon. Usually the track the moon along its course through the night, following Luna's plan for it, was a good way to know the time. Scootaloo looked up at the sky and thought back on the stories of old. The stories of ponies before they fell under the rule Celestia and Luna. It was true, when ponies came to Equestria they thought they found the perfect place to stay. This land was covered with diamonds and jewels, perfect for most of the spells that were popular back then that had been scarce back home with so many dragons eating them. Equestria was also healthy with rich soil, where back home the land was hard, dried up, and full of rocks. Equestria had skies filled with playful and compliant clouds where back home the clouds that formed were best described as malicious and ill-tempered. So, it wasn't surprising that even when the curse of the windigoes was lifted, the ponies stayed and made Equestria their new home.

But, after a time of peace and prosperity, there was laughter. Miss Cheerilee had been good at telling this part. Of course Scootaloo thought the story was exaggerated. A little bit of a myth mixed up with what really happened after the windigoes. Even her friends thought the story was too overly dramatic to be real. Plus, why would Discord need to rule over anything? Didn't people who rule look out for their people and try to take care of them? Discord couldn't do that; he'd destroy everything just to show what the antithesis of a ruler was, though Scootaloo supposed he could bring it back again just to prove he wouldn't be the exact opposite of what was good.

Back to the story, Miss Cheerilee had said he laughed. It hadn't even been a cruel laugh, not at first. It was the laugh of something so innocent, it didn't realize what it did was wrong. Ponies were worried at first, but they all had jobs to do, so they got used to sporadic chuckles of glee and belly laughs of accomplishment. And then they noticed some things started to go wrong. Clouds would grow large suddenly, spill water, and then disappear. Some crystals turned out to be fake, to be virtually useless and started to be called 'false'. And then food started going bad or had weird side effects if ingested for what seemed like random groups of ponies some food would go bad with no warning. Ponies would say that maybe rats came and contaminated the food, but mold would appear out of nowhere, and no matter how much a pony watered and took care of the corn it still wouldn't grow, or, one day, a pony would go out to find frost had killed the entire crop but the pegasus would swear none of them had approved or started a frost.

It was the animals that finally sent everyone on edge. Rabbits suddenly didn't run out of fun but from genuine fear, even from their caretakers. Mother birds wouldn't take care of their young if a pony touched it. One day ponies would be talking with sad looking cows about the weird things that were happening and the next day the cows would be stupid. They wouldn't talk. They wouldn't respond in any sort of normal way. They'd just walk around and eat and eat and eat.

Finally Discord showed himself, and his laughter and glee became the thing that terrorized ponies. They couldn't leave Equestria. Every road led back to the fertile but insane land. And worse, trying to leave got you the "ruler's" undivided attention. If the weird, cruel things that happened hadn't been enough in the beginning, then his personal attention was worse. The world would make no sense for days on end and there would be no reprieve because no pony wanted to be around a pony touched by Discord tricks. He would drag anypony associated or helping his playmates into his games. Some ponies said that after a while suffering under his torment or torture; ponies claimed that through these trials they learned how much Discord did for them. That not every chaotic, unfathomable, and out of place thing that happened to a pony in Equestria was bad. The bad was just what they noticed.

These poor ponies were labeled as insane and beyond help. They were treated kindly, but avoided. Given their own house to live in far from civilization and checked on and brought food by ponies who didn't think Discord had anymore reason to torment those that helped the insane pony, since, by then, he had moved onto his next victim.

Ponies then tended to look to the moon for comfort then. It had a cycle. They knew it, and miraculously, it never changed. The ponies had kept detailed charts of the moon of that time. Moon associated cutie marks that were so uncommon nowadays, had been on a lot of flanks back then. Scootaloo couldn't remember the charts of the moons movement, books bored her, but she remembered how intricate they'd been and how ponies back then had seemed to almost worship the moon.

And then Celestia and Luna appeared and defeated Discord. Celestia locking Discord away in stone. But he could never be completely contained. His consciousness could, but his influence and his very essence was much harder to keep locked away completely. Most of it was pushed and kept in the Everfree Forest. That's why the forest was supposed to be so volatile and unlivable, though Zecora managed to live in it just fine, somehow. Still, discord still crept into Equestria in its own way, and there was no known way to stop it.

Scootaloo sighed and let her eyes drift open. The clouds had dissipated and the moon was now easy to see. She jumped up and quickly went to Sweetie Belle and shook her friend awake. Scootaloo shift was over and the she had been standing watch had hours felt like minutes, which meant she must have drifted off to sleep. Scootaloo curled under Sweetie Belle's blanket, the early history of Equestria still running in her head. She couldn't take this anymore. Her talent obviously wasn't scootering or making routines. It had to be something to do with her wings, but her friends would never support that belief because Scootaloo's wings were too weak to support her body.

Scootaloo glanced over at the sleeping Apple Bloom and then to the still sleepy Sweetie Belle. Her friends didn't need her; in fact, Scootaloo had proven herself more a liability to them than anything. Plus, Scootaloo was comfortable being alone. No, it was time to split up the Cutie Mark Crusaders. It was time for her to leave. This way her friends would have no problem finding their way home without worrying about Scootaloo.

Carefully, Scootaloo arranged her blankets to look like she was under it; using her friends' saddle bags to create bulk under the cover. Then she started to back carefully away. She couldn't fly. Her wings hummed like a humming birds or bees, so she carefully walked out of earshot. She sent one last look back at her white coated friend who was staring resolutely into the opposite direction as if danger would only come from there.

And then Scootaloo disappeared into the shadows of the forest.


	4. Monsters at Day Break

Author's Notes: I really hate editing. So this isn't at its best, but I thought I should get rid of the chapter before I got so frustrated I deleted it.

Chapter Four: Monsters at Day Break

"Time to wake up Apple Bloom," whispered Sweetie Belle as she tried to push her friend awake.

"Huh, what?" asked the red maned filly a little loudly. Sweetie Belle quickly covered her muzzle.

"Shh," whispered Sweetie Belle harshly. "Scootaloo's still sleeping, and it's your turn to keep watch."

Apple Bloom nodded sleepily. She stumbled onto her hooves, glaring at Sweetie Belle when the white coated filly practically knocked her over so she could get to sleep. Apple Bloom yawned and trotted a few paces from her friend's sleeping forms. As she always did at the beginning of her shift, she concentrated on waking up, blinking her eyes, stretching, and trotting in place. When her shift ended, it would be time to eat breakfast (or not depending on whether they had food or not) and then start looking for the way out of the forest again.

Today, Apple Bloom was able to get an extra "wake me up" when she quickly trotted to the river and splashed some water on her face. After that, she started her stretches, careful to keep quiet so she wouldn't wake her friends. She tried to copy the stretches she'd seen her sister do in the morning, the ones before a competition and especially the ones she did before walking a couple of miles with a cart of apples on her back.

Plus, Apple Bloom needed to do something besides just standing alert and staring into the darkness of the Everfree Forest. It was boring and creepy - though mostly boring. Apple Bloom glanced to her left, after so many nights of standing scared of nonexistent eyes, she no longer believed in them. She almost wished they were real then, at least something would happen. There was nothing there of course. Nothing but blackness, the vague silhouette of the trees, and a white blob with red lines.

Apple Bloom shook her mane and looked back at the spot, where she thought she'd seen the black and red pony, but there was nothing there.

Apple Bloom took a deep breath and then scanned the area slowly. She needed to keep lookout for anything that would attack them. The red and white might have been her imagination, but she couldn't help it if her breath started to come out in little pants. She felt like she had been running nonstop for hours and sweat started pouring down her face. The earth filly shook her head so the sweat wouldn't get in her eyes.

"Well, well, finally caught a glimpse," a voice laughed between Apple Bloom's ears. Apple Bloom jumped and hunched down into a fighting stance. She knew kung fu, and she could protect herself and her friends from this stalker. She couldn't fail her friends. "Oh my, all this talk of friends, haven't you noticed one of those 'friends' of yours is missing?"

Apple Bloom jumped and hurriedly looked back to the blankets. But no, there were two bumps in the blankets. Obviously she was just overly tired and letting her imagination get away from her.

"You're not looking hard enough," said the voice.

"Shut up," muttered Apple Bloom. The voice just laughed. Long and with gusto. Apple Bloom stomped on the ground in irritation. The voice wasn't anywhere but in her head. She looked around and briefly remembered the ever watching eyes she'd felt on her since the beginning and the white spot with red ribbon she'd seen only a minute before.

"Oh dear, little filly, I really was trying to help," said the voice, not sounding sorry at all. "Very well, my little pony, we'll play a little game, but I should warn you, you're already losing."

"I don't want to play," muttered Apple Bloom, looking all around for whoever was talking to her. The voice only chortled.

"You don't have a choice," he said, as if letting her carry the conversation but leading her on the right path. "If you don't play my game then it's all over."

"All over?" asked Apple Bloom. The voice chortled and Apple Bloom could almost see an unending smile inside her mind.

"You got the right idea," whispered the voice. "Now, the rules are few and very simple. I really think you fillies can win."

"Fillies?"

"Oh yes, you're friends are also playing the game, though they're not losing as badly as you are, yet," said the voice with a chortle. "That's why you need to find Scootaloo."

"What? No, she's right…" Apple Bloom went over to her friend's blanket and poked at it quickly, then touched it she repeatedly, this time putting more weight on the blanket. Scootaloo wasn't there; instead there were only their packs. "It took her."

"Oh, no, she left," said the voice. Apple Bloom shook her head furiously, and the voice sighed. Apple Bloom's constant refusal seemed to have worn out its patience. "Now stay on task. You must run. You must run to find your friend and then you must continue running and keep running until you have forgotten."

"Forgotten what?" asked Apple Bloom, backing up and tripping over Sweetie Belle who groaned in annoyance.

"Until you've forgotten what follows you. If you get caught before you forget then it's game over," said the voice, his laughter became cruel.

"Forget? How am I supposed to forget what I'm running from? Am I running from you?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Oh, no, my little pony," said the voice. "That would be telling. But you're looking too hard now. You need to start running. I'd suggest you wake get your friend. The game has already begun."

"Apple Bloom, what's going on?" asked Sweetie Belle sleepily. As Apple Bloom backed into her again.

"We need to run," said Apple Bloom. She could still feel the echoes of that laughter bouncing in her skull. The eyes were bad on her now. They were stronger and every tree seemed to pretending to be the shadow of white and red.

"What's that?" asked Sweetie Belle, pointing her hoof forward.

Apple Bloom turned to see the silhouette of a tall pony with trees for legs and blank face. But Apple Bloom only looked at it for a second before she pushed Sweetie Belle to get awake and run. The red ribbon looked like it was going to whip around and pierce them through. Apple Bloom pushed her friend to her feet and then pushed Sweetie Belle to start cantering. They had to canter. They had to keep running as far as they could until Apple Bloom forgot. Until they both forgot or the voice with the red ribbons killed them.

"Apple Bloom what's going on?" demanded Sweetie Belle again, still half asleep though she kept up with the earth filly as they cantered further into the Everfree Forest. "What was that thing?"

"We have to find Scootaloo," said Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle looked behind them and Apple Bloom ran into her hard as she could, keeping the unicorn from looking behind and seeing the thing that was chasing them.

"Where is she?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"I don't know," Apple Bloom admitted.

"What about that thing? Maybe it would be better to face it and fight?" said Sweetie Belle.

"No, we need to forget about it," said Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle gave her friend a look like the yellow filly had gone insane. But the unicorn didn't say anything else as she looked forward again just in time to dodge a tree.

It wasn't long until Sweetie Belle's chest was burning again. Her breath came out harshly and the eerie combination of the light just starting to ghost through the trees and a thick layer of fog that only went to her knees, made her feel hopeless. The white filly glanced over to see Apple Bloom cantering at full speed next to her, looking fit as a fiddle. Where was Scootaloo? The Everfree Forest was scary enough when they were altogether. Why wasn't Scootaloo with them? Had she disappeared or been stolen by the thing they were running from.

Sweetie Belle huffed as something ran into her side and a small cry escaped her even as she looked around to see what had run into her. Had the monster caught up to her?

"Sorry Sweetie Belle, but you need to keep running," said Apple Bloom.

"What?" asked a confused Sweetie Belle. But Apple Bloom just kept on cantering next to her.

Apple Bloom wasn't sure how to do this. She couldn't find Scootaloo, and she couldn't forget that thing she'd seen in the darkness. Was it a pony? But, that was impossible. It had been almost as big as a tree and its legs thick and tall as trees. And Apple Bloom hadn't actually seen its face. But there had definitely been something there, and then she was sure when they had turned to dodge a group of trees it had been in the corner of her eyes again. Apple Bloom might not have seen it properly, not really, but she could feel it. It was working itself into her head and the more she remembered the voice in her head telling her to forget whatever was chasing them, the more she seemed to obsess over it.

The dark forest gave way to more trees, and slowly the clear sky started to fill with patches of clouds. None of them covered the sky completely, thankful Celestia they still had the light of the moon to guide their way through the thick forest.

Apple Bloom tried to look everywhere at once. Maybe they were being chased because they were close to the edge of the Everfree Forest, but the trees just continued on and on. Soon morning light started to fill the sky, just the tips of the rays of the sun light forcing their way through the thick canopy. Apple Bloom decided this was bad, while they could see more, so could the thing chasing them. The earth filly tried to lead them around the worst of the light patches but almost ran into a field of poison jokes. Sweetie Belle tripping was what made them just avoided getting poisoned. Apple Bloom was glad, you needed a lot of special ingredients to make the antidote to poison jokes, and not all of them could be found in the forest. Apple Bloom remembered she had to do to the store for Zecora to get some of the more obscure ingredients.

Actually, now that they had to get away in a hurry, they were almost running into all sorts of nasty plants. They also almost ran into a pony eating plant, but thankfully it was small and sickly and easy enough to avoid. They also got a bit close to hungry grass, but thankfully they knew a lot about it over the last week they had found out that particular kind of grass grew in abundance, more than actual grass. The book had said that hungry grass was only dangerous if digested, but they were careful.

They just kept cantering until a large tree branch almost knocked out Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle was the one who saw it coming, and immediately she drew her magic into her horn and a bell seemed to ring out from her horn louder than Sweetie Belle had ever created before. The lightning that came from her horn actually made the tree she threw her magic at shatter. Apple Bloom stopped suddenly, shielding her eyes as chunks and slivers of wood flew out in all directions. Silence filled the forest as both fillies panted, trying to catch their breath.

Soon it became clear that the silence filling the forest it was not normal. It wasn't the one that they had gotten accustomed to that week. This was the silence you got when there were other ponies or some intelligent being nearby, and a pony had either done something embarrassing or surprising and now was being watched. Both fillies slowly started to open their eyes, a small sound drawing their attention. As they looked past the blown apart branches, their eyes were drawn in the middle of a clearing. Where in the middle of moss covered in rocks, tossed dirt, and remnants of trees was Scootaloo her hooves and wings bound together. The pegasus's eyes were wide, but her mouth was gagged, stopping screams they seemed to be caught in her eyes.

A crack split the sky and Apple Bloom glanced up. The scattering of clouds had turned into darkening storm clouds. No sun light was able to break through. There were just clouds so dark they faded between black and deep purple.

"Ponies," a deep voice boomed. Apple Bloom swallowed, from the corner of her eyes she could see Sweetie Belle was shaking in fear. Apple Bloom looked back and then she realized what she thought was giant rocks actually were.

"Chenoo," whispered Apple Bloom, her whole body starting to shake.

"Pretty," said the creature. It's attention also riveted on the ponies. Cheenos were weird looking. They were bent over on four hooves, but like those weird creatures in the books about foreign places, these were balanced like apes with most weight on his hind legs. Their hind legs were also stronger and less versatile than their front legs that moved around with a great deal of ease and dexterity and their front hooves had three splits that were made for reaching and grasping around trees and other giant objects that these giant monstrosities were flinging at one another and enemies. They had blunt faces with small nose and were made up of stone.

"Yummy," said the chenoo. Apple Bloom instantly took a step back, and Sweetie Belle gritted her teeth. The concerned eyes stared straight at Scootaloo who was still looking at them with a fearful but hopeful expression.

"Not yummy, pretty," growled the second chenoo, his arms curling around one of the few trees still within range. At this rate, even if the one who thought they were pretty won, the ponies would be crushed by the objects they swung at one another. "We keep."

"Hungry, squash ponies into jam," said the first one. As one they start whacking each other as many times as they could with the trees they ripped from the ground.

Apple Bloom flinched; the trees swung were shedding chunks of wood and twigs violently in all directions. Sweetie Belle and her needed to find away to get Scootaloo out from the middle of the battle. The two big creatures kept knocking together and almost stumbling into their friend. Sweetie Belle or Apple Bloom needed to save Scootaloo soon or she really would become jam.

"You let go of Scoot right now!" shouted Sweetie Belle, surprising Apple Bloom. The unicorn lowered her horn and started charging at the beasts. Apple Bloom gasped, but her friend was too far gone. The chenoo weren't paying attention to her, but it wouldn't take long until they either felt her lightning bolt sting, or she caught their attention by making one of their trees explode. Still, Apple Bloom didn't think she could stop her friend. The white filly had been rudely awakened only a couple of minutes after her shift, and then told they were in trouble. For all that Sweetie Belle was the softest and the least confrontational of the three of them, the unicorn could also be the most violently protective. Still, Sweetie Belle wasn't a good runner; the lack of oxygen must have made her as a little silly. There was no other reason Apple Bloom could think if for Sweetie Belle to think she could take on a cheeno. If Apple Bloom could free Scootaloo and start heading to safety, maybe she could get Sweetie Belle to start running away from this new threat instead of at it.

Apple Bloom quickly started looking through her bags to find the scissors.

Sweetie Belle knew it was insane for her to take on these miniature mountains. She was a filly, a small filly who didn't even have her cutie mark yet. She had no business going after these hulking things. They would crush her in their grips without a second thought. But she had to do something to save Scootaloo and these things were planning on killing Scoot and making her into jam.

The unicorn's horn hurt from the last time she used her spell, but Sweetie Belle still had plenty of magic left over to use. As the spell discharged, the magic rang out like a glass bell and lightning sprang in a small flower shape before coming together to hit its target. The chenoo were still whacking each other with sticks and weren't paying attention to her. Sweetie Belle watched as the spell sprang out and chipped at the rock of the chenoo that wanted them to turn them into jam. The cheeno paused, its expression changing from anger to confusion. The thing blinked, a tree knocking against it ineffectually as it looked around him. His eyes narrowed when he saw Sweetie Belle. Somehow, he was able to piece together that it was the filly who had hit him with the lightning. He grabbed a rock this time, a small one in comparison to his hands, and lifted it, ready to crush Sweetie Belle even, though his hand really could have done the job fine.

Sweetie Belle gulped and then held her ground, her horn sparking a small flower of lightning with a tiny ring as she gathered what felt like the last of her magic. She only had a few seconds to figure out this creature's weak point was before it killed her. A boulder exploded against it just as Sweetie Belle was geared to attack. The cheeno crashed to the ground. Sweetie Belle stared at the thing for a couple of seconds, before she realized she needed to take the chance to run and save Scootaloo while she had it.

"Pretty," said the other cheeno. Sweetie Belle immediately turned on it. Her horn sparked, but the creature hadn't shown itself to be a threat to them yet except in the fact that it was huge and stupid and violent.

The thing's arm was reaching toward her, and Sweetie Belle glanced down quickly to see that Scootaloo wasn't tied up by its feet anymore. Sweetie Belle quickly gathered all the magic she had left into her horn even dragging magic from the air as she did so. Her horn sparked and then a bolt flew at the creature and cracked against the stone almost as loudly as thunder. Sweetie Belle heard the thing scream and knew that she needed to get out of the area fast. She felt a little dizzy after using so much magic, but she shook her head and turned around to canter away again. Her chest tightening in fear.

"Sweetie Belle!" shouted Scootaloo to the white filly. Sweetie Belle saw her orange friend jumping and pumping her wings so she was high enough for Sweetie Belle to see where she and Apple Bloom were.

Scootaloo sighed when Sweetie Belle saw her. Scootaloo couldn't be happier her friends had shown up. It seemed like no sooner had she left in search of her own path than she'd gotten lost (which shouldn't be possible because she had been lost in the first place) and then captured by those things. Scootaloo hadn't been paying enough attention to her surroundings, and the things hadn't looked like anything but rock at first. She'd made it to a clearing where she thought she found a sizable rocky hill to climb and give her a better chance of flying high enough to see the end of the forest. Instead the hill had come to life and with speed that seemed impossible for something that big, had snatched her off its back. The rest was history.

As the fillies cantered from the cheeno, Scootaloo could hear the trees being brushed easily to the side as the monster continued to run after them. Scootaloo looked behind her and saw the giant was hardly affected by having to push giant trees out of its path. The only thing slowing it down was a pronounced limp on its right side.

"This way," shouted Apple Bloom. Scootaloo turned to the yellow filly in confusion, wondering how her friends thought she knew the right way to go. Then the thing screamed and Scootaloo decided concentrating on running was more important.

The fillies ended up tumbling down a steep slope. When they reached the bottom, they lay without the ability to move. They all were stuck choking for air while Sweetie Belle was even whimpering. And then, almost as one, they realized they couldn't hear the thing lumbering behind them anymore. Apple Bloom let out a sigh of relief. She and her friends were safe. Somehow they had escaped and everything had turned out fine. They were no more lost than they had been before.

Then it hit Apple Bloom, and she giggled. Quickly she rolled over and pinned Scootaloo under her weight.

"You're safe," she said, a little breathlessly. It was scary thinking about how close she'd come to losing one of her best friends. Would Scootaloo have been squished by the chenoo if they had never found her? Really, those things shouldn't have been moving, when Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle found them. Maybe the sun hadn't come out enough to solidify them. "The sun came out."

"Yeah, so? Can you get off me now?" asked Scootaloo angrily. Apple Bloom raised one eyebrow and then smiled as Sweetie Belle joined her on top of their orange friend. "Ow."

"You can't do that again Scootaloo. You can't leave us. It's too dangerous," said Sweetie Belle softly. Something howled close by, all three girls jumped. Scootaloo tried to stand up, but both her friends refused to budge from on top of her.

"Sweetie's right Scoot. You can't just leave us like that. We won't let you," said Apple Bloom and then put her head down on the orange filly, tears gathering in her eyes. Sweetie Belle was already crying, her legs wrapped around Scootaloo in a death grip.

"No matter what, we can't forget what the harmonies taught us. Friendship is what will save us. It will keep us safe in darkness and chaos," said Sweetie Belle softly. "I can't imagine life without you and Apple Bloom by my side."

Scootaloo looked away from her friends. Huffing in annoyance though Apple Bloom was sure she saw just the glimmer of a tear in her eyes too.

"Thank you," said Apple Bloom, putting her head on her friend before looking into the woods. "Thank you for leading me back to my friend."

"Ah, who are you talking to Apple Bloom?" asked Scootaloo.

"She heard someone in the forest before we ran into you," said Sweetie Belle.

"I think they were trying to lead us to you," said Apple Bloom.

"I thought you said something was chasing us," said Sweetie Belle.

"It's the Everfree forest. I think we were lucky it really was helping us and not trying to trick us into killing ourselves instead," Apple Bloom pointed out. Sweetie Belle thought about that for a second before she nodded.

"Thank you," she said in the direction of the forest. She then smiled at Apple Bloom. "No matter what happens. No matter how helpless we feel, or how badly we fight or anything. We will never leave one another again."

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom then looked at Scootaloo to confirm that the orange filly understood. Scootaloo made a face and then finally nodded. She had a feeling that her friends weren't going to let her forget her little escape attempt anytime soon. The more she thought about it, the stupider her idea seemed anyway. The pegasus couldn't even really remember why she had thought running off on her own was a good idea in the first place. Was she really that selfish? No, she'd never leave her friends again.

They started to leave, and Scootaloo paused for a moment and then looked behind her.

"Thank you," she whispered. For a moment she thought she heard somepony make a tentative sound of wondering confusion before a male, almost insane laugh filled her head.

"Scootaloo, are you alright?" asked Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo shook her head, the laughter retreating as she turned to her friends.

"Yeah, sorry, I thought I heard something," said Scootaloo with a shake of her mane. Then she turned and her friends made room for her between them as they got ready to find some 'safe' place to rest. Something howled and they instantly stuck closer together and started to trot further into the forest. One day, they'd find their way home, and they would do it together.


	5. Part One: The Ponies of Everfree Forest

Author's Notes: So I've decided to make the chapters shorter so that I'll have an easier time forcing myself to edit (yes this is a piece edited, go to my other stories if you want to face the horror of a quick edit by me). The next few chapters will be split into parts, so they might feel a bit weird not being together, but I tried to divide them up in away that made sense. That said, I have not abandoned this piece, yet, your review really helped!

Chapter Five

Part One: The Ponies of Everfree Forest

The three fillies spent the rest of the day desperately trying to find their way out of the Everfree Forest the rest of the day without resting or eating. Scootaloo hadn't thought to steal some food from her friends when she had run away, and Sweetie Belle had been woken in such a rush that she had forgotten her saddlebags. Now they had no food and no way of finding out what new plants they knew they could eat. Because of that, they ended up setting up camp and going to bed starving. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom fought over if they should let Scootaloo take a shift that night or not Scootaloo tried not to be hurt, it made sense her friends would be wary of letting her take a shift when last time she had run away. In the end they decided it would be too much for just two fillies to take such long shifts. Plus, the day had been littered with random animals suddenly showing up and almost catching or finding them, and all three fillies were mentally and physically exhausted from spending the day on high alert. They'd even run into a dragon while trying to hide from a herd of imps. It was a miracle that they had lasted so long and no night creatures had snuck up on them and chased them away.

There was only one problem. Scootaloo fell asleep before her shift was over, and Apple Bloom never woke up in time for hers. When the three friends finally did wake up, the sun was high in the sky and the ground was covered in red. Apple Bloom blinked her eyes open in sleepy confusion and then slowly started to look around, trying to get a look at what was all around and covering her and making the world look on fire. Something stirred on her back and then took wing toward the sky. Apple Bloom watched it in wonderment.

"A field of butterflies," said Apple Bloom in a whisper as if afraid her voice would break the magic of the moment.

"Shh," a voice of somepony practically shouted. Apple Bloom's wide eyes glanced over to see a pale pink unicorn with bright blue eyes and the picture of three leaves on his flank. Her friends started to wake up and look around them too. "All of you keep still."

Scootaloo glared at the colt. He was shifting from hoof to hoof, his eyes glancing from the fillies to the small meadow of red butterflies.

"Is there a village nearby?" asked Sweetie Belle standing up and sending up a flurry of red butterflies into the air. The insects shimmered for a moment, their wings now streaked yellow with touches of blue. They were beautiful, even the air around them seemed to simmer.

"Don't move," shouted the colt. He sounded breathless and scared. Sweetie Belle blushed and started pawing at the ground. Scootaloo glared harder at the colt, though she didn't try and stand.

"Hey, don't be mean to her. What's your problem anyway?" the orange filly demanded.

"You fillies are definitely not from around here," huffed the unicorn, giving them all an odd look. "Listen, those are fire butterflies. Or at least, that's what the mares call them. They're beautiful but deadly."

There was a reverent look as he glanced briefly at the fire butterflies. Scootaloo watched him, and Apple Bloom smiled.

"I bet you're mare brings them to you as gifts," she said. The colt blushed and pawed at the ground, as he ducked his head.

"She says my paintings are the best in the village," he muttered. "Says they have a magic of their own even before I put on the finishing touches."

"Can we see them when we're out of here?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Yeah, but let me get the mares first. Don't move. I don't want you to get burned," he said and then cantered off into the trees.

"We're saved," said Sweetie Belle bending at the knees like she was about to jump for joy.

"No!" shouted the other two fillies before Sweetie Belle could start moving. Sweetie Belle froze and Scootaloo huffed in annoyance and relief.

"But this means that either we're close or at least found a group that can lead us back to civilization," Sweetie Belle said, her ears dipping. "What's so dangerous about butterflies anyway?"

"He called them fire butterflies," Scootaloo said with a huff and a roll of her eyes. "That probably means if we scare them, they light whatever they're touching on fire."

Sweetie Belle blushed and then glared at Apple Bloom.

"Why didn't you tell us we were being surrounded by these things?" the white filly demanded. Apple Bloom blushed and then glared at Scootaloo.

"Don't blame me. I never was woken up for my shift. Someone else fell asleep on her shift," snapped Apple Bloom glaring as if she trying to make Scootaloo spontaneously combust.

"Well, I hardly got any sleep the night before and staying up in shifts is stupid anyway," said Scootaloo, quickly averting her eyes so she was talking angrily at the ground.

"Oh yeah. Getting covered in fire butterflies, that wasn't something we'd have wanted to avoid," said Apple Bloom sarcastically.

"I bet you would have let one land on you even if you'd been awake," muttered Scootaloo.

"Yeah, but obviously upsetting one isn't the same thing as upsetting a field of them," yelled Apple Bloom. "We would have been burned to a crisp if that nice colt hadn't shown up and warned us."

"Girls, come on, let's not fight," said Sweetie Belle, looking down at the shimmering butterflies nervously. Was it just her or was it starting to feel a little hot?

"No, first she tries to leave us, now she's not being responsible. What's next Scootaloo, are you going to lead us into a pack of nukelavee?" Apple Bloom shouted, looking seconds away from stomping her hooves. Scootaloo tensed, almost forgetting about the butterflies she wanted to retaliate physically so badly.

"I already said I'm sorry," Scootaloo shouted, little tears gathering at the side of her eyes. "But you're the ones who are useless."

"What do you mean useless?" demanded Sweetie Belle, not even realizing the comment wasn't aimed at her since Scootaloo was looking at the ground, and she'd been half distracted from the fight by the butterflies.

"Apple Bloom can't find anything but trouble, and you forgot your pack that had the book and food in it. We're now down to only one blanket and two canteens," snapped Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle blushed and shifted nervously from hoof to hoof, her eyes constantly snapping down to look at the butterflies whose wings slowly drifted down and then up while others held completely still.

"That's not fair," muttered Sweetie Belle.

"We were scared by something that led us to you. If we hadn't come along, you would have been crushed. If it's anyone's fault we left the saddlebags behind, it's yours," Apple Bloom snapped back.

"Fillies!" a female mare shouted, the three friends quickly shut up and looked over in the direction of the voice. Six mares stood at the edge of the field of butterflies. A big mare with a turquoise coat, black mane, and a net cutie mark stood at the front of the group with her, chest puffed out proudly as she surveyed the fillies caught under the fire butterflies. "Do not argue, that's almost as bad as moving. In fact, don't talk at all."

The three friends blushed and now all three stared at the ground, as if they found the fire butterflies that covered it fascinating. The turquoise mare scanned the clearing carefully and then nodded her head.

"Alright fan out, usual positions should be fine. But be careful, we're lucky all that fighting didn't seem to overly agitate the fire butterflies, but one wrong move might mean life or death for these fillies," said the big mare, obviously the leader. All the other mares fanned out, making a wide circle around the clearing just outside the tree line. Apple Bloom was able to see then that the colt had also come with the group. He smiled nervously at her and bowed his head to say hello. Apple Bloom just smiled at him.

The mares then started to chant. Apple Bloom looked around her, interested in what sort of mares went willingly into the Everfree Forest. It wasn't long until she realized they were all unicorns, made obvious since their horns were glowing. Slowly, different color magics leaked forward, cautiously weaving in and out in lines under the butterflies. The holes in the magic shrunk until they were too small for a butterfly to fall through. Sweetie Belle wondered how long the group had practiced this spell so they worked seemingly together. As the lines of magic from the different unicorns met, the magics crossed one another, mixing up to finally create one big, colorful net.

The chanting of the unicorns then grew a little louder, and Apple Bloom could see that a couple of the mares were sweating and their faces were screwed up into intense concentration. The net slowly started to rise. A couple of butterflies started flapping their wings faster and a dozen or so actually took off. Apple Bloom felt her breath catch in her throat for a second, sure she could feel the angry heat coming off from butterflies on her back, but the insects didn't catch fire and soon the butterflies were a good four feet from the ground. The air shimmered and waved around them, but the butterflies were far enough away that they couldn't burn the three friends anymore.

"Girls. Girls," whispered the colt furiously. All three of them looked at him. He made a weird head movement and all three cocked their head to the side. He huffed, "Come over here."

After only a moment, all three of them cantered with all their might over to the colt. As soon as they reached him, he started to check them over, butting them with his head and muttering under his breath. The three blushed and tried to avoid getting stabbed by his horn. The turquoise mare glanced over at them, but then shook her head and continued her spell. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked up and watched as the unicorns continued to lift the net a little higher and then, as a group, they slowly allowed the spell to dissolve into nothing. Sweetie Belle was sure she saw one or two butterflies catch fire before flying off. Though it was interesting to see that a couple of butterflies just floated back down to land on the field.

"Well, I think that was our best group spell yet," said the turquoise mare happily. She had a very deep, pleasing voice, and she smiled widely at the mare unicorn next to her. "That was a perfect spell, Flutter. We'll make a field researcher out of you yet." The light pink unicorn with a cutie mark of three butterfly wings on her flank crossed her legs bashfully at the comment. The mare looked young compared to the rest. The rest smiled at her. as they walked over to the turquoise mare Three of the other mares had a variation of butterfly cutie marks on their flanks, but one mare had what looked like three pins on her flank. She met Apple Bloom's eyes and smiled sweetly before her smile faded and her eyes went wide.

"Oh my," said the unicorn with the pins cutie mark, taking a step back before shaking her head and trotting to stand by the fillies, putting herself between them and the colt. "You two aren't unicorns."

All six mares perked up this and came closer to inspect the three fillies. The turquoise raised an eyebrow and made some sort of noise that had the others backing a respectable distance away from the friends. The rest of the group kept on staring at them.

"My, what interesting friends you've made Shade. I do believe these ponies represent all three pony races. All we're missing is an alicorn, and, well, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are the only ones of those that I know of," rambled Flutter nervously.

"You three must be from Philidelphia," said the turquoise mare with a smile. "I've heard they've made it so all three races can live together comfortably there. Why are you so far away from home?"

"Um," Apple Bloom tried to think fast and then let her ears drop in anxiety. Her friends quickly copied her posture and demeanor.

Sweetie Belle, the best on the spot liar, was even able to make a couple of tears enter her eyes. "We got lost from our teacher. We were supposed to be learning more about cutie marks."

Apple Bloom smiled shyly at the turquoise mare. The mare lifted an eyebrow, but the other mares seemed excited by her lie. They were talking together in quick whispers, their voice too soft for the fillies to hear what they were saying.

"Do you know when you lost your teacher?" asked the lead mare.

"Ah, we had settled down for the night just inside the forest. We woke up to sounds, and she went into the fog to find it. When she didn't come back..." Sweetie Belle's voice trembled and a couple of tears actually fell down onto the ground. Apple Bloom made an effort to look equally as pathetic, and Scootaloo stared sullenly downward.

"Oh, you poor dear," said the mare with pins for a cutie mark coming over to comfort Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom tried not to roll her eyes. Was Sweetie Belle really that much better at acting?

"Pinup, why don't you take this young unicorn to see Shade's paintings?" said the turquoise mare with a smile. Pinup seemed shocked and then smiled and started to lead Sweetie Belle toward Shade. Sweetie Belle looked over her shoulder nervously at her friends. Apple Bloom just smiled and made a shooing motion with her hoof. These ponies seemed okay. They were a bit weird since they lived in the Everfree Forest, but that just meant they were tough. Weird, but tough. Like Zecora.

"Alright. You mindif we take you straight to see Marks. She's been studying cutie marks all her life, thinks she's on the verge of a breakthrough. She was probably the one your teacher was taking you to see and the best one equipped to deal with any needs you might have," said the turquoise mare.

"What about our teacher?" asked Scootaloo. Apple Bloom looked at her but immediately tried to even out her expression to something that might be fear or concern. Scootaloo seemed to realize that she just asked about an imaginary teacher and blushed, pawing at the ground irritably. The turquoise mare smiled.

"Ah yes, you're a Pegasus. I never met one of you who sit still very long," said the unicorn with a laugh. "I was planning on asking Iris if we could form a search party for her. If you like, you can join us. We could do with someone who can give us a good aerial view of the forest."

Scootaloo blushed and muttered, "I'm not a good flier."

"Really. Do you have weak wings, or you have you not been practicing enough?" asked the turquoise unicorn. Scootaloo blushed even harder and then tried to fly, her wings buzzing loudly and her body only lifting about a foot into the air. There was a huff of laughter from the group, but the turquoise mare frowned and shot them a disapproving look. "That's not good. You should go see Wings. Maybe she'll be able to help."

"You really think so?" asked Scootaloo excitedly. The unicorn smiled.

"I think there's a really good reason that you were sent here," said the unicorn evasively. "Well, come on fillies; let's get you to your caretakers for the day. I'm sure your teacher won't mind you taking the day off since she disappeared."

The two friends shared a look. This was odd, though not in a bad way. These ponies almost seemed too friendly and buy into their lie too easily, but that was probably just guilt on their part making them paranoid. Plus, the turquoise mare said they were going meet someone who specialized in cutie marks. Maybe she would be able to give Apple Bloom some insight into the right way of finding their cutie marks and help them understand why they didn't have theirs yet. Plus, they couldn't be bad; they had offered to help Scootaloo with her weak wings. Maybe they'd know a spell that allowed Scoot to rebuild strength in her wings, or whatever Scootaloo was missing in order to fly.

Still, there was something very odd about these unicorns. As they came into the village, Apple Bloom realized what it was. It wasn't just that the group that had saved them were all unicorns, the entire village was comprised of only unicorns. Apple Bloom had grown up in a village that was considered one of the least integrated villages outside of Cloudsdale. Most of the ponies were earth ponies. They still called using magic or wings 'cheating' in competitions, where anywhere else in Equestria saying something like that would seem racist. Yet, here, no pony was flying and everypony had a horn. If they were a village of unicorn ponies it would explain why they seemed shocked to see Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

As they continued through the village, Apple Bloom realized that it was a little creepy. Apple Bloom knew there were some places that were still very segregated or was only settled by one race of ponies, but she had thought Ponyville was one of the worst offenders, or Appaloosa since it had only been settled recently. This village was also set up differently then Ponyville. Everything that could be made out of stone was and everything appeared shiny and clean. Local precious gems were scattered here and there as decoration, and instead of an emphasis of stores that sold essentials like food and tools, the venders and most signs advertised selling magic channeling precious stones, accessories, books, and journals. These were all things her sister would call useless. Things only namby pamby ponies needed because they didn't know how to really work. Not that Apple Bloom would tell her rescuers that.

"Here we are," said the turquoise unicorn, startling Apple Bloom out of her thoughts. "Don't worry, Mark loves talking about cutie marks, especially if it's about anything remotely connected to her current area of study. Just ask her any questions about cutie marks, and she'll talk your ear mark. Go on in dear."

Apple Bloom smiled and walked into the house, she glanced behind her briefly to see Scootaloo also looking back as the pegasus was led away. Apple Bloom took a deep breath in. So, all of these ponies were unicorns. That was okay, a little backwards, but some places just made it harder to integrate other types of ponies. Apple Bloom didn't blame the peagasus for having a place in the sky that no other kind of pony could go to. It was in the pegasus' nature to live in the clouds, and it wasn't their fault no other ponies could walk on the clouds. These unicorns lived in Everfree Forest. All their defenses were probably magical and where earth ponies' might disturb their studies with their control over growth and local cultivation.

"Come in." Apple Bloom cautiously opened a door from the hallway into what looked like a study. At one end of the room a yellow unicorn with a purple mane was furiously looking at papers strewn across her table with a quill furiously writing out her notes on the paper floating near her head. The unicorn had a cutie mark with two black rimmed hearts and a quill lying across them as if finishing off the black outline. "If you're here about the donation, it's in the desk. I'm much too busy to bring it over. It's the usual amount."

Apple Bloom coughed. "Um."

The unicorn looked up from the book she was reading, a quill falling to the floor from the other side of the room. Mark's eyes narrowed and she stood and quickly trotted over to Apple Bloom and then circled her.

"Well, an earth pony, this is new. Young, but around the age you should be finding a master. A little hard without a cutie mark. Hmmm," Mark muttered under her breath. A paper and quill appeared behind her and started to write furiously. "Interesting. A good few months late. Girl do you have any friends or family members with three repeating images as a cutie mark?"

"Ah, yes, my sister, and most of her friends. I think Twilight and Rainbow Dash have only one image," said Apple Bloom nervously.

"Would you say that that most people you know have three or one repeating images?" asked Mark. The unicorn had stopped circling Apple Bloom and trotted back to her table. Apple Bloom followed her slowly, looking down at all the papers that were strewn across the floor. Pictures and stretches of cutie marks all roughly done and the papers wrinkled. Each sketch had next to it tiny writing that covered the rest of the page. Twilight would have had a fit if she saw this. Apple Bloom could just see her freaking out over all her hard work treated so do respectfully, getting cluttered and stepped on. Obviously this unicorn wasn't so manic about organization.

"In my family, one. In general, three," said Apple Bloom, looking around the room. The pony nodded and started jotting something down.

"Do you know any ponies with two, or four, or even greater numbers of repeating symbols in their cutie marks?" she asked. Apple Bloom shook her head, trying to remember the cutie marks she's seen or sketched. The unicorn started to write that down furiously. "Do you know anyone with what you think might be a unique cutie mark, one that breaks the mold, so to speak?"

"No, well, sorta," Apple Bloom said, biting her lip.

"Here, you draw it, and I'll analyze it," said Mark. Apple Bloom trotted over and took the quill carefully in her mouth, hoping she wouldn't snap it in half. She quickly sketched Twilight's cutie mark. She paused, while she didn't hang out much around the odd unicorn, Twilight did have a distinct cutie mark, and Apple Bloom was pretty sure she knew how it looked. Apple Bloom had even attempted to draw it a couple of times before. She did that with a few ponies' cutie marks through the years, usually for ones that confused her. A couple of times she drew them because she was trying to figure out how two ponies could have cutie marks that looked almost identical but had almost completely different meanings.

"Well, that is an interesting cutie mark. One of a kind. If I didn't know better..." Mark trailed off, and Apple Bloom stepped out of her way as the unicorn took a closer look at the drawing. Apple Bloom then started a second picture. Twilight had the most interesting cutie mark of the ponies Apple Bloom knew, but the earth pony did know a couple of ponies with a cutie mark that only had an image repeat twice now that she had time to remember. "I would say this belonged to a wielder of the Harmonies."

"How did you figure that out?" asked Apple Bloom, pen scraping against the paper and then falling to the floor with a loud click.

"Really?"

"Um, yeah, I mean she only wields one of them," said Apple Bloom with a small shrug.

"Magic. Friendship I should say. She must be a powerful unicorn.

"And how I knew, well, I'm an old hand at translating cutie marks. It's my special talent," said Mark.

"There's an old cutie mark theorist with a similar name to you. I think her name was Mark Almanac," said Apple Bloom. She had begged her sister to buy the old scholar's books. It had taken some time. Applejack had nothing against books, but she didn't see them as important. In fact, Applejack saw them more as a hindrance, especially when it kept her sister from doing her chores. According to Applejack, there were just too many things that needed to get done and reading was just a waste of precious time. They were fine for the winter, but a pony shouldn't waste time on them when the apples and the business had to take priority.

"That is my name," said Mark, looking over at Apple Bloom and smiling. "And really, I'm not that old."

Apple Bloom blushed. "Sorry. The book we got was secondhand and looked really old. But I'm a huge fan, even if I don't always understand what you're saying."

"You'll get a hang of it the more books you read," said mark, sounding impressed. "Have you always been interested in cutie marks? I can't think of any other reason you would read my book," said Mark. Apple Bloom smiled and nodded.

"I've always liked knowing what cutie marks mean, even before I became obsessed with figuring out what my special talent is," said Apple Bloom, practically prancing. She couldn't believe she was meeting her favorite author.

"Well, well, to think the next great cutie mark scholar might be an earth pony," said Mark with a chuckle. "Not to be rude or anything. It's just that earth ponies usually aren't very scholarly."

Apple Bloom just shrugged. Mark bit her lip and then smiled and looked back at the picture of the cutie mark, that Apple Bloom had done glancing over again at Apple Bloom before nodding for the earth pony to come over and look at the picture with her. Apple Bloom trotted to stand next to Mark.

"Now look, there are twelve points to the star, which is then split into two categories of six different kinds of points. The bold pink and the shadowed white. As symbols, stars often represent…" she trailed off and looked at Apple Bloom expectantly.

"Magic, and the six points are the six elements of harmony," said Apple Bloom. Mark smiled at her.

"Right, but it's more than that. Look at the five stars that circle the around major star. Two representations. Both show that she is the sixth wielder, partly shown by the absence of a sixth small star. Really, I could write my next book just analyzing the intricacy of this cutie mark and perhaps working with Dio on the nuances and light it sheds on the complexities of the Harmonies. Actually, this cutie mark doesn't just reveal that owner is a wielder of the sixth element. Can you guess what it also represents?" asked Mark. Apple Bloom stared at the cutie mark, opened her mouth a few times and then guessed.

"Well, Twilight always said her special talent was magic."

"Exactly, do you remember what we call a cutie mark with two meanings?" asked Mark, prancing from foot to foot excitedly.

"A dual cutie mark," said Apple Bloom. "A cutie mark that has two meanings. It can mean a special talent that is more in-depth or generalized. Like a person who is good at growing flowers but has a special touch growing roses."

"Very good, that's what this is. Twilight's special talent is magic, but she will be best with magic that deals with the Elements of Harmony, especially the one she represents," said Mark with a laugh.

"Actually, it's dual because, at least in the elements of harmony, magic is the equivalent of friendship," Apple Bloom pointed out.

"Well, well, you're one surprise after another. You even sound like a scholar. Well then, dear, what else can you call this cutie mark?" said Mark.

"It's partly prophetic since if somepony had correctly identified it when she was a filly they would have realized the Elements of Harmony would have been important again in some way," said Apple Bloom. Mark positively beamed.

"Very good. Actually, I'm shouldn't be so surprised someone who specializes in the Elements of Harmony has shown up. Princess Celestia did just discover them. There must be a reason for them. Are the other harmonies also identified? What are their cutie marks?" asked Mark. Apple Bloom giggled.

"I'm surprised you haven't heard of them. Though I guess I'm a little bias on their popularity, my sister is one of them," said Apple Bloom with a blush.

"I live in the middle of nowhere. You're lucky that I've heard of the Elements of Harmony at all. I swear, if it wasn't for the fact I loved my son, I wouldn't even be here," said the unicorn with a roll of her eyes.

"Um."

"He's one of the top researchers here. Not that any of the mares take him seriously. They're still stuck thinking a colt needs a mare to be worth anything, but he's so sure that no pony will listen to him if he gets married," ranted the mare and then blushed when she saw Apple Bloom staring at her. "I'm sorry. It's just-it's been so long since I've had someone to talk about cutie marks seriously. I would love to just take you back to Canterlot and make you my apprentice, but I can't just leave my son here. Not alone, could you imagine what they say or what they could do?"

"It's alright, it sounds like you have to get it off your chest," said Apple Bloom. Mark smiled at her before shaking her mane.

"I just wish he'd settle down with a nice mare and have a family. I mean, I'm so proud of him, and he needs to be courted by a mare who will support his passion, but I just feel he'd be more complete with a family. That and then he'd have a wife who could chase him around and take care of him," said Mark. "Anyway, enough about me. What about you? Are you from Canterlot?"

"No, Twilight is, but we're, um, well, see," Apple Bloom blushed, but there was no reason hiding where they were from anymore. If any ponies here knew about the Elements of Harmony it wouldn't be that hard for them to find out they were from Ponyville. "It's just, my friends and I are a unicorn, peagasus, and earth pony so the turquoise mare thought that we were from Fillydelphia. Truth is, we're from Ponyville."

"I've never heard of that town before," said Mark.

"It's right outside the Everfree Forest," said Apple Bloom.

"From where?" asked Mark. Apple Bloom shrugged.

"We got lost after our teacher disappeared into the fog," said Mark.

"Well, I'll pass on the information to Scale. She'll probably know the town. That's her job," said Mark with a shrug. "And don't worry about the other unicorns, their just a bit old fashioned and they don't really care about politics. All they care about is whatever they're researching. Now, about those cutie marks…"

"Right," said Apple Bloom. She wished she could ask a little more about the town, but she decided that learning more about cutie marks was more important and interesting. Who knew that your special talent could be studying cutie marks? Apple Bloom knew that it had to be her special talent, and she got to earn her cutie mark studying with one of her favorite authors who was a lot less old and dead than she had originally assumed.


	6. Part Two: The Ponies of Everfree Forest

Chapter Six

Part Two: The Ponies of Everfree Forest

Scootaloo was starting to get antsy. She listened with half an ear as Wings prattled on. The chatty unicorn made her do weird little excises with her wings, and now they hurt from excursion, but when Scootaloo tried to tell Wings, the unicorn ignored her and just continued to write notes in her little book that she refused to share with Scootaloo. Scootaloo sighed as Wings continued to mutter to herself and stare at the wall, only once in a while looking down at her notes or snapping a command Scootaloo's way.

"Why are you ponies here?" Scootaloo demanded, trying to get the other ponies' attention by raising her voice and banging her hooves on the table. The other pony's head shot up and then Wings stared vacantly into space as she dragged her brain away from whatever it had been preoccupied by. Scootaloo smiled, she had been asking random questions for what felt like hours. Apparently she just hadn't been loud enough to get through to the obsessed unicorn.

"What do you mean?" the unicorn asked eventually. Scootaloo rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Why are you unicorns in the middle of the Everfree Forest?" Scootaloo asked slowly.

"Princess Celestia asked us to study here of course, well, most of us anyway. We ended up with a weird group, but most of us are here to do research," said Wings with a shrug. Her quill hit rhythmically on the paper, her magic as nervous and obsessed as she apparently was. Scootaloo wanted to rip the thing from the unicorn's magic grip and break it.

"What kind of research?" asked Scootaloo through gritted teeth. Wings stopped tapping and smiled.

"To find out why the Everfree Forest is still controlled by Discord of course," said Wings, she made the tape measure start taking Scootaloo's measurements again the purple glow of magic bright against Scootaloo's eyes.

"What?" demanded Scootaloo. She thought that Rainbow Dash and her friends had taken care of that creep.

"Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but this is not a normal forest," said Wings sarcastically. Scootaloo glared at her, and Wings shrugged. "Even when Discord was encased in stone, chaos continued to reign in the Everfree Forest. I mean, we can never escape Discord completely. His grip on Equestria is too tight to ever free the land and its natural inhabitants of him completely. Still, in most places, his influence is minimal and chaos easy to manage thanks to Celestia. But life in this forest continues to display signs of Discord's rule, though the forest appears to have an order of its own with rules foreign to any place I've seen, in reality, it is free of restraints and its inhabitants and magic as unpredictable as the whims of Discord. There are many theories as to why his influence is greatest here. For one thing, this forest houses plenty of his creations, those creatures with odd destructive powers, creatures of mixed ancestry, or ones that make no sense within the confines of science. The researchers brought in some snake, kitten thing to me that had four different kind of wings."

Scootaloo tried to imagine that, but the image just wouldn't mesh She could do the kitten snake thing, she actually had some fun first imagining a kitten all stretched out like a snake. Then a snake body with a cat head. But four kinds of wings? Outside of discord, who only had two, Scootaloo just didn't see how a creature like that could survive.

"That sounds beyond weird," the pegasus said with a snort.

"Believe me, I studied it myself, and I still can't believe it existed," said Wings with a laugh, then she looked down on her notes and sighed, a frown marring her face. "Well, I'm afraid that you have underdeveloped wings unfortunately. I can't be sure, but I'd guess the reason the wings are so weak is because you have mixed pony heritage yourself."

Scootaloo blushed and then pursed her lips angrily. Little tears entered her eyes, but she stubbornly held them back and forced them back. It wasn't her fault. She hadn't picked her mother or her mother's hatred of the one of the things that defined both her husband and daughter. If it were up to Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash would have been her mother. That would have been awesome. It was bad enough that her parents weren't the same type of pony. It was worse that she never got to learn how to be a pegasus because of her mother's hatred and then death and her father's stubbornness and idiocy.

"Oh, don't give me that look. We have all sorts of medicine here, and I am an Equestia renowned surgeon. Plus, I've discovered all sorts of useful medicinal plants, kinds you only get in the Everfree Forest. We'll start your treatment right away. You're young, and while I'm afraid to say you'll never be the strongest flier, you will be able to fly to Cloudsdale by the end of the week," said Wings looking more and more excited. Scootaloo narrowed her eyes but couldn't help a little well of hope springing inside her.

"You really think that's possible?" asked Scootaloo.

"Of course, we all have our side projects here. This has become mine," said Wings with a smile. "Actually, if you'll sign a few consent forms, I'll start the procedure. You're parents are dead right?"

"Um," Scootaloo looked at the mare. She wasn't sure she was good enough to lie about that.

"You don't have your cutie mark yet, and I need parents' permission," said Wings. Scootaloo blushed hotly.

"My dad would never agree. He hates that I have wings," spat Scootaloo.

"Filly abuse. That works just as well," said Wings dismissively. "I have a couple of connections in Cloudsdale. By the time I'm done with you, you'll be able to fly there and back again five times a day if you had to."

"I don't understand," said Scootaloo.

"Listen, I'm a unicorn that was meant to fly, but Discord played a trick on me and I have this horn instead," said Wings with a sigh. She paused for a moment, her eyes filling with mist. "Anyway, my whole adopted family consists of pegasus. I know them, and more importantly for you. I know their rules. Refusing to let your fillies fly, that's grounds for losing said filly. Don't worry; the way pegasus society is set up, you'll fit in right away."

Scootaloo felt her breath catch. Could she really do it? Could she leave her father and Ponyville behind her and finally learn to fly? It would be perfect, but she would also be leaving her friends. Could she do them again? She'd put them all in danger the last time she had abandoned them to try and reach her dream of getting Cloudsdale. Still, even if she went to Cloudsdale it wouldn't be for forever, and it wasn't like Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were stuck alone in the Everfree Forest anymore. These unicorns seemed willing to help all of them. They were even looking for Sweetie Belle's make believe teacher and Wings was willing to help Scootaloo fly without the assurance she would be paid. Scootaloo was starting to think that she could tell the village the truth and the village would take them in on principal. They obviously cared and appreciated fillies, and wouldn't do anything to stunt their growth or reject them completely.

"Will the princess be mad that you're working on this and not experimenting on helpless, mismatched animals?" asked Scootaloo. The mare snorted and prodded at Scootaloo until the pegasus was lying on her side.

"As long as we get results, I don't think she'll care what little hobbies we picked up on the side. Most of us have ten separate projects going at once. Too many thoughts in our head to focus on one subject. If we tried to do that, our brains would start to sag from lack of use," said Wings with a slightly high pitched laugh that made Scootaloo wonder if the unicorn was completely stable. "She won't mind. Plus, it's nice to have you here. We've been here so long, and the Everfree Forest is so cut off from everything else. It feels like decades, sometimes centuries, since we've seen a new face."

Scootaloo watched Wings' expression. The unicorn tried to smile at Scootaloo, but it fell quickly and her eyes had this haunted faraway look in them again. Wings then shook her head and took out a very long needle.

"Now, for this procedure I'm going to have to put you to sleep. Closing your eyes is probably the best way to prepare yourself for the sting of the needle," she advised. Scootaloo winced as the needle entered between her wings. As she felt herself drift off, she wondered how Wings could already have everything together in order to start her treatment.

-S-W-E-E-T-I-E-B-E-L-L-E-

Sweetie Belle was finishing her tour of the pictures Shade painted across the village when Scootaloo drifted off. The house she was in was plastered in paintings. Shade told her that the ones in the living areas had more personal meaning to him, and that Pinup had even built a room to hold the pictures he'd painted based on some other ponies' work. Sweetie Belle had to admit, the paintings were very impressive. They had this gentle feeling to them despite the explosive color Shade used. Somehow this endeared them to her and reminded her of her friendship to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. There was one particular painting with three fighting warriors. They looked terse with armor and focus crystals, but they had expressions of such joy and respect that it was clear they were having fun despite their circumstances. Sweetie Belle didn't even have that much interest in art, and even she was able to appreciate his subtly in his paintings, though they did get old when shown all of them in one day.

Shade happily prattled about every painting he showed the white filly. Most of what he said about each picture was the same. He told her how long it took him to paint them, what his inspiration was as the time, how good or bad the paint he used was, and things like that.

"And that's it," Shade said finally, smiling. He looked back at Sweetie Belle and Pinup. Pinup had showed up near the end of the tour, not adding anything, just smiling. Sweetie Belle smiled shyly at him. Spending hours staring at paintings wasn't very fun, but Shade obviously took great pride in his paintings, and he was good. Sweetie Belle didn't want to hurt his feelings, she really did like his painting, and he was obviously a very delicate unicorn. He was like the gentlecolts in the city her mother always talked about, nothing like the colts in Ponyville who were strong physically even if they were a bit quiet. Still, that had been a lot of paintings. "Except for the ones in the attic, and well, they're up there for a reason. How about I make you two some tea?"

"Honey, what about your comet painting in our bedroom? I really love that one, and it has a really interesting story behind it," said Pinup. Shade perked up and started trotting toward the stairs. Pinup watched him go, and then trotted over and stuck her head into the kitchen.

"Mini, tea please," she said and then turned toward Sweetie Belle. Pinup led the filly to the sitting room. "Mini's apprenticing under me. It worked out perfectly really. Mini's mom is a tracker and that turned out to be my daughter's special talent. It feels like we've traded daughters. Shade is having separation anxiety and isn't sure what to do with a mare in the house that isn't family. All my butterflies have been moved into one room and into the university because he's gone on such a painting frenzy."

"Am I making him nervous?" asked Sweetie Belle. Pinup laughed and shook her head. A grey unicorn with a single flattened out butterfly cutie mark came in and set the tea on the wooden table.

"Don't be silly. You don't even have your cutie mark yet. Shade is just sheltered is all, but that's part of what I love about him," said Pinup.

"It sounds like you have to take care of him," said Sweetie Belle. Pinup looked at her in confusion.

"Well, of course, he's my colt. I'm supposed to take care of him and support him. But, he's a good husband. He makes me paintings, entertains my friends during parties, and he's there at the end of the day to sooth my aches and listen to my petty gripes," said Pinup with a smile. "I love spoiling him. He has the most precious blushes, and I have to admit, I might keep him a little too sheltered. He's just so innocent and I don't want to ruin that part of him."

"But I thought colts were supposed to take care of mares," said Sweetie Belle, remembering how her sister used to talk about her perfect somepony. Pinup looked at Sweetie Belle like she was insane and then sighed.

"I'd blame that on your friends, but now that I think about it, I think some mares got the wrong idea about how earth ponies court their colts," said Pinup with a sigh. "Ask that little earth pony friend of your for specifics on her own kinds dating rituals, but I know that while earth ponies expect their colts to be almost as useful and strong as they are in the field, they don't expect them to be dominant or take charge in the family. No more than any unicorn would let her colt completely run the household. Earth ponies have a different dynamic because they have a different lifestyle they have to adhere to. You shouldn't listen to them on how to seduce a colt."

"They didn't tell me how. My sister did," said Sweetie Belle.

"Ah, yes, of course. Listen, your sister's going to be very disappointed when she starts to date seriously. I mean, does your mother drop everything to follow whatever 'career' your father is pursuing?" asked Pinup. Sweetie Belle shook her head.

"My mother has the job, my father is her secretary," said Sweetie Belle, repeating back what one of her aunts had said. Of course, then her aunt had snorted and said something about her parents' relationship only being a little better than if her father had been proven inadequate and dumped in a convent somewhere. Sweetie Belle had asked her mother if her aunt had ever had a husband and if she had dropped him off at a convent. Her parents had blushed hard and changed the subject. Sweetie Belle never brought it up again. She'd forgotten about it until now, she hadn't seen her aunt since she had asked her parents.

"Progressive parents. Reminds me of Mark and her son. I really don't know what's going to become of us," said Pinup in exasperation. She then seemed to remember that Sweetie Belle was still there and forced herself to smile. "Never mind. Being a secretary is a good job for a colt if he wants to make sure he can always stay with his mare. But think of it this way, your sister has a job right?"

"She's a designer," said Sweetie Belle softly.

"Respectable," said Pinup with a nod. "When she gets a husband, does she plan on leaving her job?"

"What? No, Rarity could never stop designing!"

"Even if her husband was rich, and she didn't need to work?" asked Pinup.

"Designing is her life. She might like to live a slightly higher lifestyle, but I couldn't imagine her giving up designing," said Sweetie Belle.

"And what if her husband had his own company or job and needed her to stop being a designer and instead be an obedient wife?" asked Pinup. It was like a bolt of electricity went down Sweetie Belle's back.

"What?" the filly demanded. Pinup chuckled.

"And now you see why it's silly switch roles. Mares are not supposed to be actively seduced by colts. I don't care what modern mares say about a colt's jobs being securing a wealthy wife; we set the wrong tone when we allow them to court us. We need to court them because they need to know that they can trust us. They need to know we ready to protect and provide for them, and they need to understand that in the end its our decision on whether we can accommodate them into our lives. That's why we are the pursuers and make the official first moves. We lead to see if they follow, especially if they need go out into the middle of Discord's land in order to study his freaks," Pinup said with a snort, then her expression soften. "Colts live such lonely lives. They have but one job they're allowed. Oh, they're cutie marks show what little hobbies they're likely to pick up, but in the end, it is their looks and their mother's social standing that is going to land them their wife and their future prospects. I think, as mares, it is important to court colts because it is the one time they get to feel special. It's a time when a mare can show a colt that she finds him desirable as more than just a thing that's use is to give her a healthy daughter. We pamper them because they have always been pampered. We shelter them with our gifts, smiles, and little ways we take care of them to show we will always see them as treasures. That they are worth the time to woo and worth the money we spend to impress them."

Pinup trailed off, a vague smile still plastered across her face. Sweetie Belle wondered where the unicorns' mind had wandered off to. Was she remembering courting Shade?

And was Pinup right? Was her sister doing a disservice to colts by expecting them to court her? But colts had always been quick to cater to whatever Rarity asked. They hadn't complained. They even seemed to expect her treatment of them.

"What are you thinking about dear?" asked Shade. Sweetie Belle jumped at his voice and turned to see the colt come into the room while he levitated a canvas that was facing away from them.

"About how I met you," said Pinup with a genuine smile. "Go on, show Sweetie Belle your painting."

Shade smiled widely and flipped his painting to show it to them. The background was simple, a deep purple blue for night and an almost back green for the forest. A couple of blotchy stars and light reflecting off the dark green landscape to suggest trees and a farmhouse, but what really drew the eye was two gigantic yellow, orange, red colors that were at once two comets and two...

"Butterflies," Sweetie Belle whispered. They were really stunning. Vibrant and detailed, it looked like they could pop out of the painting and fly away.

"Yeah, first two she brought butterflies home for me," said Shade coming to stand next to his wife.

"He cried," said Pinup conspiratorially to Sweetie Belle. Shade puffed up his chest and then blushed. "You think he'd have figured out my profession from my name in combination with my cutie mark, but the sight of dead insects just broke his heart."

"My mother does not approve of you," said the colt stamping his feet and throwing his nose into the air.

"That's because I stole away her precious son," said Pinup. She bumped flanks with Shade, and he let his head fall and then bent to rub quickly at her neck. Sweetie Belle blushed at their behavior and looked away. "Now, we don't want to be rude. Is there anything you want to do Sweetie Belle?"

"No, um, this wasn't really planned," Sweetie Belle pointed out.

"Great, I think it's time to fill in those gaps in your education," said Pinup, curled back in her seat. Sweetie Belle bit back a groan. Shade chuckled and went to curl up in his own chair opposite his wife.

"Don't worry Sweetie Belle. I'll make sure it's interesting," said Shade.

"Sh," Pinup mock scolded Shade. "Now there's a good lesson to start with, the role of the husband in the unicorn family." Pinup pretended to glare at Shade her playfully stuck his tongue out at her before the tea was brought in and he tucked his head in and became a ball until Mini left.


End file.
